Arab League chief calls for activating Joint Arab defence treaty

The Joint Arab defense treaty should be activated to defend Arab national security and combat terrorism in the region, Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil el Araby said on Sunday.
In exclusive statements to the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, Araby called on Arab countries to coordinate their efforts to face terrorism.
He added that he was awaiting a response from Arab foreign ministers about their vision to activate the Joint Arab defense treaty.
The AL chief criticized the statement issued by the the White House summit on countering violent extremism.
Asked about Qatar's reservations on the Egyptian air strikes on Daesh targets in Libya, Araby said that he did not understand the Qatari stance towards the Libyan crisis that supports the Islamic groups and rejects lifting the arms embargo on the Libyan army.
Asked about the AL role to stop the civil war in Libya, he asserted that the AL sought to help the legitimate authorities in Libya in building institutions, the police and the army, adding that the AL along with the United Nations, the European Union and African Union endeavor to reach a peaceful solution to the Libyan crisis.
Araby blamed Israel for the ongoing incidents on the Arab arena.