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Kerry, in Saudi Arabia, Presses Arab States to Speak Out and Act Against ISIS Arab Nations Vow Help to Fight ISIS ‘as Appropriate’
(about 3 hours later)
JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — Secretary of State John Kerry plunged into an intensive series of meetings here with Arab officials on Thursday to coordinate strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — Arab nations vowed on Thursday to “do their share” to confront and ultimately destroy the Sunni extremist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The promise came after the nations’ foreign ministers met here behind closed doors with Secretary of State John Kerry.
The meetings are being hosted by Saudi Arabia, which has agreed to provide bases for the training of moderate Syrian rebels who are battling the Sunni militants and the Assad government in Damascus, the Syrian capital. A joint communiqué issued by the United States and 10 Arab states endorsed a broad strategy to stop the flow of volunteers to ISIS, curtail its financing and provide aid to communities that had been “brutalized” by the militants.
The talks will also include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. It also called for a coordinated military campaign in which nations would contribute “as appropriate.”
Mr. Kerry began his discussions Thursday with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, who used a cane as he walked to greet the secretary of state at the jetway to his plane. Mr. Kerry was scheduled to meet with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening. Mr. Kerry, who was the only Western foreign minister at the meetings here, sought to use the talks to mobilize support against ISIS, a day after President Obama declared that the United States was prepared to carry out airstrikes in Syria in an effort to degrade and eventually defeat the Sunni militants.
The Obama administration is eager for the campaign against ISIS to be perceived as a broad international effort that includes prominent Sunni states, rather than as a clash of civilizations that pits the United States against radical Islam. Mr. Kerry is expected to ask the Arab states to step up their condemnations of ISIS and of Islamic extremists. None of the Arab participants said precisely what they would do, and it remained unclear whether any would join the United States in mounting the airstrikes.
“He’s also going to ask them to use their nationally owned media, and in two particular cases, this is Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, and encourage their religious establishments to speak out against extremism,” said a senior State Department official who previewed Mr. Kerry’s strategy, referring to two Middle Eastern news channels. Turkey also took part in the meetings here, but it did not sign the communiqué. A senior State Department official sought to minimize the significance of that development, saying the United States would continue to consult with Turkish officials on how to respond to the threat posed by ISIS, which has captured 49 Turkish diplomats in Iraq and held them hostage.
“This is also going to be an ask of the Egyptians — to have the sheikh of Al Azhar and the Dar al-Ifta, their major Islamic seats of learning, to speak out against ISIL, although they’ve already done some of that,” added the State Department official, who asked not to be identified in accordance with the agency’s protocol for briefing reporters. He was using the abbreviation for an alternative ame for ISIS. “We understand the challenging situation Turkey is in given their detained diplomats, and they will make the decision on what role they can play moving forward,” the official said, requesting not to be identified in accordance with the department’s rules for briefing reporters.
On the military front, the United States is pursuing discussions with regional defense ministers to discuss the expansion of bases and overflight rights so that the United States and other nations can expand the intensity and scope of airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Mr. Kerry would visit Ankara for talks. In the past, Turkey has expressed concern about arming the opposition in Syria, for fear that the weapons would wind up in the hands of Kurdish militants.
The senior State Department official said Mr. Kerry planned to discuss with the Saudis “in some detail” plans to train and equip moderate Syria rebels. The meetings in Jidda were hosted by Saudi Arabia. American officials said the Saudis have agreed to provide bases for the training of moderate Syrian rebels who are doing battle against both the Sunni militants and the Assad government in Damascus.
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have their interests, as well, including a more assertive effort to oust President Bashar al-Assad. The other participants were the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
In agreeing to the American request to host training of the moderate Sunni opposition, the Saudis are trying to develop a force that can not only confront ISIS, but can also undermine Mr. Assad’s hold on power and even maintain order if he is toppled. “We believe we will beat back the evil” of ISIS, Mr. Kerry said, asserting that the international coalition against the group was growing.
“It’s a quite good program, not only to support the moderate opposition, but also because it can form some basis or be integrated in a post-Assad security force,” the State Department official added. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister and the only Arab official who spoke to reporters after the talks on Thursday, was the most forward-leaning.
Saudi Arabia, a Sunni monarchy, has been strongly opposed to Mr. Assad, whom they accuse of brutally suppressing Sunnis and who is supported by Saudi Arabia’s regional nemesis, Iran. “There is no limit to what the kingdom can provide,” Prince Saud said.
But the Saudis have been increasingly worried about ISIS, which they fear presents a threat to the stability of the Saudi kingdom. He played down Saudi Arabia’s earlier criticism of Mr. Obama’s decision to refrain from conducting airstrikes in Syria last year, after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons.
American officials said 1,000 Saudis had volunteered to fight with militant Islamic groups in Iraq and Syria. Saudi officials are concerned that some of those volunteers will try to carry out attacks after they return home. In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has cracked down on a cell of more than 80 ISIS and Qaeda recruiters in the kingdom, the State Department official said. “I don’t see disagreement,” he said. “I see the agreement about the present situation.”
One nation the United States is not actively trying to coordinate with in fashioning a strategy to take on ISIS is Iran. But the prince stopped short of providing specifics about what role his nation would play in facilitating the training of moderate Syrian rebels.
Iran has been backing Shiite militias in Iraq that are fighting ISIS, sending drones over Iraq from an airfield in Baghdad and shipping tons of military equipment to the Iraqis. The Obama administration is eager to have the campaign against ISIS be seen as a broad international effort that includes prominent Sunni states, rather than as a clash of civilizations that pits the United States against radical Islam.
“Iran is taking its own actions,” Mr. Kerry during a visit to Baghdad on Wednesday. “The United States does not cooperate, militarily or otherwise, nor does it have any intention in this process of doing so, with Iran.” American officials said before the closed-door meetings here that Mr. Kerry would ask the Arab states to step up their public condemnations of ISIS and Islamic extremists.
Given the enmity between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and their profound differences over the Assad government, forging a coalition that would include Riyadh and Tehran seems all but impossible. “He’s also going to ask them to use their nationally owned media,” said a senior State Department official who previewed Mr. Kerry’s strategy. Two Middle Eastern news channels, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, were mentioned specifically, the official said, adding that Mr. Kerry would also ask the Arab states to “encourage their religious establishments to speak out against extremism.”
The growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States over Syria, including plans to train anti-Assad rebels, appears to have struck a raw nerve in Tehran. “This is also going to be an ask of the Egyptians, to have the sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Dar al-Ifta, their major Islamic seats of learning, to speak out against ISIL, although they’ve already done some of that,” the State Department official said, using an alternative name for ISIS.
“The so-called international coalition” to fight ISIS “is shrouded in serious ambiguities and there are severe misgivings about its determination to sincerely fight the root causes of terrorism,” said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, on Thursday. The official said that Mr. Kerry planned to discuss arrangements for training and equipping moderate Syria rebels “in some detail” with the Saudis.
The communiqué issued after the meeting addressed these points, though it did so in general and sometimes elliptical terms. It declared the signatories’ determination to “stand united” against ISIS and other terrorist groups, and praised the formation of the new “inclusive Iraqi government.”
The communiqué said that the participants had discussed a strategy to “destroy” ISIS “wherever it is, including in both Iraq and Syria.”
It said steps would be taken to stop the flow of foreign fighters and money to ISIS, repudiate the group’s “hateful ideology” and provide aid to rebuild affected communities.
The communiqué made no explicit mention of training Syrian rebels; rather, it said that the signatories would join “in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign.”