Anti-Daesh meet in Riyadh pledges no let up in fight

Saudi Arabia on Sunday urged member countries of the anti-Daesh coalition to reinforce their participation and deploy greater efforts to ensure further successes in their common combat against terror groups.

The Saudi call was issued as the Chiefs of Staff of 14 member countries attended the Conference of Global Coalition Against Daesh in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Ways to upgrade coordination among the members of an anti-Daesh coalition were discussed at the conference as well as how to build on the efforts of the international coalition that has achieved significant progress in its operations aimed at neutralising the capabilities of the terror group in Iraq and Syria.

Enhancing the participation of Arab and Muslim countries in the Coalition and identifying and understanding the current challenges and the latest developments in the fight against Daesh were also debated by the participants, Saudi Press Agency reported.

“This conference is an extension of significant meetings that were held in Saudi Arabia with the effective participation of numerous countries to discuss ways to combat terror groups, particularly Daesh – currently, the most dangerous and the most influential,” Saudi Arabia’s Chief of Staff General Abdul Rahman Bin Saleh Al Bunyan told the participants.

He cited the regional conference held in September 2014 in the Red Sea city of Jeddah which constituted the core of the current international coalition as well as the conference of the chiefs of staff held in the Saudi capital Riyadh in February 2015.

Al Bunyan also referred to the conference of the chiefs of staff of the member states of the Islamic Coalition to combat terrorism and which was held in Riyadh in March last year.

“Holding such conferences by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia denotes its genuine interest in combating terror groups and reflects its full awareness of their dangers and of their impact on the security and stability of the region and the world at large,” he said in his opening remarks.

“Saudi Arabia which has been and remains at the forefront of countries that have been hit by terrorism, is seriously dedicated to combating it, in terms of ideology, organisation, funding, media and military capabilities. Saudi Arabia is an active partner in the international campaign against Daesh in Syria and it did not confine its contributions to military operations against the terror group, but extended it to include the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi and the Syrian brothers, and so is the case with Yemen,” said Al Bunyan.

Saudi Arabia applauded the successes that have been achieved by the international coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

“The successes have led to the terror group losing many areas that used to be under its control and to the killing of many of its top leaders,” he added.

However, Al Bunyan warned that tackling terrorism will need time and steady international efforts, particularly during the critical phases of the campaign against Daesh.

“Saudi Arabia is keen on the cohesion and successes of this coalition and on achieving its objectives. It therefore urges all Arab and Islamic member countries to reinforce their participation and to deploy greater and further efforts throughout the campaign against Daesh,” he said.

“Such policies would reflect positively on the security and stability of our countries and of the world and would consequently ensure the success of our economic and social development and would offer better protection for our peoples and nations,” he concluded.

source: GULF NEW