CAIRO // King Salman said on Saturday that a Saudi-led offensive against rebels in Yemen would continue until his neighbour’s stability is restored.
The “aggression” of Iran-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, represents “a big threat to the security and ability of the region,” the Saudi Arabian leader said at a meeting of Arab leaders in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.
It came as Saudi Arabia led a coalition of 10 Arab nations, including the UAE and Egypt, in launching attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen for a third day.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s embattled president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi called the Houthis “stooges of Iran” at the Arab League summit, directly blaming Tehran for the chaos in his country and demanding that air strikes continue until the rebels surrender.
Mr Hadi fled Yemen earlier this week, making his way to Saudi Arabia after leaving the southern city of Aden in the face of a push into southern Yemen by the Houthis and their allies, including forces loyal to ousted leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Other leaders, including the heads of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, obliquely referenced Iran, blaming the Shiite country for meddling in the affairs of Arab nations. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi said Iran was “spreading its ailment in the body”, without actually referring to the country by name.
Mr Hadi also hailed the Saudi-led intervention aimed at bringing him back to power, calling it a “practical application” of the kind of joint military action that is being urged by Mr El Sisi.
The Egyptian president, who was elected after toppling his predecessor Mohammed Morsi, has endorsed his powerful army as a cornerstone of a joint Arab force.
He warned leaders that the Arab nation was in its “darkest hour”.
“This nation ... has never been faced [with] a challenge to its existence and a threat to its identity like the one it’s facing now,” Mr El Sisi said. “This threatens our national security and [we] cannot ignore its consequences for the Arab identity.”
Foreign ministers meeting before the summit began on Saturday approved a proposal to establish a joint Arab rapid response military force, which the leaders were set to approve.
“This is the first time that a force will be created and work under the name of Arab states,” said Arab League secretary general Nabil Al Arabi, calling the move “historic”.
The issue has come to the fore with the Saudi-led offensive against the Houthis who took over the Yemeni capital Sanaa and are now threatening Aden.
However, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon urged the leaders to find a peaceful resolution in the country.
“It is my fervent hope that at this Arab League summit, leaders will lay down clear guidelines to peacefully resolve the crisis in Yemen,” he said.
Despite the support for a joint Arab force, it would still take months to create and then operate on an ad hoc basis.
Mr El Sisi said in a recent interview that the proposal for a joint force was welcomed, especially by Jordan, which might participate alongside Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.
“Each of these countries would bring a different capability,” said Aaron Reese, deputy research director at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
The two-day Sharm El Sheikh summit, which ends on Sunday, is being held under tight security, with extra police and army on the streets of what is normally a tourist resort, and with military aircraft patrolling its skies.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process, as in every Arab summit, also features prominently on the agenda, with the battle against ISIL in Iraq, Syria and Libya another high priority.
* Bloomberg, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
