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Kerry seeks Arab support in Saudi Arabia for fight against Islamic State Kerry, in Saudi visit, wins expanded Arab support for fight against Islamic State
(about 9 hours later)
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Arab diplomats moved swiftly Thursday to rally military and financial backing for a wider international assault against Islamic State militants. JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Arab diplomats agreed Thursday to boost military and financial efforts against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, as President Obama’s call to arms against the extremists received mixed reviews in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Following up on President Obama’s call to arms against the network that has laid claim to a third of the territory of Iraq and Syria, Secretary of State John F. Kerry was meeting here with diplomats from across the Middle East. Secretary of State John F. Kerry and diplomats from across the Middle East coordinated strategies to blunt the militants’ swift march in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has proclaimed a caliphate on a third of Syrian and Iraqi territory, functionally erasing the border between the countries in some places.
The group is considering expanded military help such as more bases for airstrikes and new Arab training initiatives for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamists as well as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states agreed to expand military help, including opening up more bases for airstrike launches and holding training programs for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamists, diplomats said Thursday. The specifics of the effort, however, were not announced.
“It’s a very important meeting, and we very much look forward to our discussions,” Kerry said as he and longtime Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met separately ahead of a hastily arranged larger gathering of Arab diplomats in this seaside city. “This is a moment which is one of those rare opportunities in history where leaders making the right choices can actually bend the arc of history in the right direction,” Kerry said after a day of talks with officials from Persian Gulf nations, along with Iraqi, Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese diplomats.
Saudi Arabia is a linchpin of the strategy Obama outlined in a prime-time address Wednesday, because of its wealth and well-equipped military and because of its role as the spiritual leader among Sunni Arab states. “We believe that we’re all up to this task, and we believe that this is what our citizens are asking of us,” Kerry said. “We believe that we will beat back the evil of ISIL,” he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, which grew out of an al-Qaeda affiliate and has pursued an even more radical agenda.
The fast rise of the Islamic State network unnerved Saudi rulers, along with the authoritarian Sunni governments in Jordan and Egypt. A statement issued by the participating nations said they agreed to “do their share in the comprehensive fight against ISIL.” The effort would include, “as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL.”
All are expected to contribute money, military resources such as bases and trainers, or diplomatic support for an Arab coalition against the militants. The group also agreed to work toward stopping the flow of foreign fighters across some of their borders and counter financing of the group from abroad. The United States accuses Qatar and Kuwait, both participants in Thursday’s talks, of not doing enough to stop private donations from their citizens to the militants.
“They didn’t truly understand ISIL’s reach and its ability to control territory,” a senior State Department official said, using an alternate acronym for the group. “That’s really the distinguishing factor here. It controls territory,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the additional commitments from Arab governments have not yet been announced. Longtime Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters that the kingdom’s commitment to fighting terrorism is “unlimited,” but he did not provide details.
Those same Sunni Arab governments were also unwilling to commit major resources to fighting the militants inside Iraq under the leadership of Nouri al-Maliki, who left office this week after eight years as prime minister. Maliki was widely viewed as a Shiite partisan who systematically marginalized Iraq’s Sunni minority. “Our meeting today was a good opportunity to discuss this phenomena from all different aspects and perspectives, and to go deep in its roots and causes and reflected keenness to come up with a joint vision to combat it through military means, security means and intelligence, as well as economic and financial means, and intellectual means also,” he said.
The Saudi government convened Thursday’s conference following Maliki’s replacement with a Shiite leader seen as more willing to share power. U.S. officials have said that American military training of Syrian rebels, a feature of the strategy Obama outlined in his prime-time address Wednesday, would take place in Saudi Arabia.
“Now they have a much deeper appreciation of what ISIL could mean to them, and the Iraq transition has moved ahead reasonably successfully,” the State Department official said of Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states. “So I think their thinking has altered on that.” Saudi Arabia is a linchpin of Obama’s strategy, because of its wealth and well-equipped military and because of its role as the spiritual leader among Sunni Arab states.
The Saudi kingdom has been critical of what its leaders saw as a slow and reluctant U.S. response to the Syrian civil war that spawned the terrorist network. Saudi anger over Obama’s cancellation of planned airstrikes last year soured relations for months. The fast rise of the Islamic State has unnerved Saudi rulers, as well as the authoritarian Sunni governments in Jordan and Egypt, which fear that the militants could continue their march across other borders and inspire further Islamist insurrections.
Although Obama insisted Wednesday that he is not leading the United States back to war, the much wider campaign he outlined includes airstrikes in Syria supported by the Saudis. “Now they have a much deeper appreciation of what ISIL could mean to them, and the Iraq transition has moved ahead reasonably successfully,” a senior State Department official said of Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states. “So I think their thinking has altered on that.”
Obama spoke to Saudi King Abdullah hours before the speech Wednesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the additional commitments from Arab governments have not been disclosed.
Those same Sunni Arab governments were unwilling to commit major resources toward fighting the militants in Iraq when the country was led by Nouri al-Maliki, who left office this week after eight years as prime minister. Maliki was widely considered a Shiite partisan who systematically marginalized Iraq’s Sunni minority.
The Saudi government convened Thursday’s conference after Maliki’s replacement with a Shiite leader viewed as more willing to share power.
The Saudis have been critical of what they consider a slow and reluctant U.S. response to the Syrian civil war, which fueled the growth of the terrorist network. Saudi anger about Obama’s cancellation of planned airstrikes on the Damascus regime last year soured relations for months.
Although Obama insisted Wednesday that he is not leading the United States back to war, the wider campaign he outlined includes airstrikes in Syria supported by the Saudis.
In a front-page editorial, Syria’s state-run al-Thawra newspaper warned against the expansion of airstrikes in Syria — even though President Bashar al-Assad’s government also fears the Islamic State. The editorial said U.S.-directed air campaigns in Syria would trigger “the first sparks of fire” in the region, according to the Associated Press.
Obama’s plan to expand the fight against the Islamic State was broadly welcomed in Iraq on Thursday, although some complained that Washington should have acted faster.
Elsewhere, his strategies were widely interpreted along political lines: applauded by allies, questioned by some Middle East states and slammed by Russia.
Iran, whose proxy militias in Iraq have joined battles against the Islamic State, described the U.S. coalition as misguided because of the presence of Sunni Arab nations that Tehran views as key rivals.
In Baghdad, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office issued a statement praising Obama’s objective to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the network. The statement also echoed Obama’s call for Iraqi forces to take the lead in the fight, backed by international assistance.
Iraqi political and military leaders have been pushing for decisive U.S. military action since the militants began to claim important territory earlier this year. But Washington was hesitant to provide much support to Maliki and made clear that U.S. airstrikes undertaken this summer were in support of the Iraqi people, not the Baghdad government.
Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Thursday to congratulate Abadi.
“This is an opportunity for real partnership, and Iraqis realize that we need a proactive relationship with the United States to face the Islamic State,” said Saad al-Muttalibi, a lawmaker from Abadi’s bloc.
However, he added that “the world had expected more from the United States” earlier in the crisis.
The U.S. airstrikes have been aimed at preventing the Islamic State’s advance on the semiautonomous Kurdish region and protecting critical infrastructure, such as a major dam. Iraqi officials say they now expect the strikes to expand to other parts of the country, including areas near Baghdad that have become flash points.
Morris reported from Baghdad.