Arab leaders agree joint military force: Egypt’s Sisi

Arab leaders agree joint military force: Egypt’s Sisi

SHARM EL SHEIKH - Agence France-Presse
Arab leaders agree joint military force: Egypt’s Sisi

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends during the closing session of the Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 29, 2015. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Arab leaders have agreed to form a joint military force, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced on March 29 on the second day of a summit.
 
"The Arab leaders had decided to agree on the principle of a joint Arab military force," Sisi said in a speech at the summit held in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Arab representatives would meet to study the creation of the force, said Sisi.
 
The decision was mostly aimed at fighting jihadists who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria and won a foothold in Libya, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said ahead of the summit.

On March 29, Arabi told the meeting that the region was threatened by a "destructive" force that threatened "ethnic and religious diversity," in an apparent reference to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists.