ARABS SET TO CREATE THEIR OWN NATO, URGE A NUCLEAR-FREE MIDDLE EAST

Arabs Set to Create Their Own NATO, Urge a Nuclear-free Middle East

Human Wrongs Watch

Cairo, 29 March 2015 (Human Wrongs Watch) – The creation of an Arab, NATO-style joint military force, the urgency of freeing the Middle East from nuclear weapons and a future inter-Arab common market are some of the key decisions adopted by the Arab leaders in their 26th Summit held Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt ton 28, 29 March 2015.
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The Arab region | Author: kobe bryant | Wikimedia Commons
The summit declaration emphasises the need to free the Middle East from nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction and calls on Israel to join the NPT (Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty), as well as to submit all its nuclear facilities, and those of Iran, to the comprehensive safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Israel is the sole nuclear military power in the region. According to military experts, its arsenal amounts to 230 nuclear bombs. This figure would exceed the combined nuclear arsenal of India, with 80-90 atomic heads, and Pakistan with similar numbers. (1).
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According to the final declaration of the Arab summit, Arab states will join the new joint military force on a voluntary basis.
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The joint force is set to intervene military to face eventual challenges threatening the security and safety of any member state at the official request of its authorities.
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Diplomatic sources close to the summit stressed that Iraq expressed strong opposition to this resolution and renewed its rejection of any military intervention of any state in the affairs of any other country.
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Iraq has been invaded and militarily occupied by the US-led military coalition for over a decade.
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The establishment of the new Arab joint military force was approved by Sharm El-Sheikh Arab summit upon the Egyptian proposal, which Cairo launched a few weeks ago.
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The ongoing Saudi-led coalition that has launched military attacks against Houthi forces in Yemen provided a further push to the creation of the Arab NATO.
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Egypt and Saudi Arabia are expected to form the major bulk of this joint force, to be joined by United Arab Emirates. Kuwait and eventually also Sudan, according to Arab diplomatic sources.
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Abdel_Fattah_el-Sisi

**President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt | Kremlin.ru | Wikimedia Commons

Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who chaired the summit, said a high-level panel will prepare the structure and mechanism of the joint force. The task is expected to be completed in four months from.

The joint Arab military may be formed by some 40,000 elite troops, backed by warplanes and warships.

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Libya Next?
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Libyan different armed militias, which witnessed a progressive penetration of radical “jihadists”, could be the next target of the new Arab joint force. It is estimated that there are currently up to 25 million weapons in hand of both the government and the militias.
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King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia said that the painful reality experienced by a number of Arab countries from terrorism and internal conflicts and bloodshed, has been the inevitable result of the alliance between terrorism and sectarian-led regional powers “blatant interventions” in the Arab region to destabilize the security and stability in some Arab countries.
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***Saudi king Salman | Mazen AlDarrab; The original uploader was سامي الرحيلي at Arabic Wikipedia

The Saudi king’s statement was implicitly meant to the largely believed intervention of Qatar and Turkey, both allied of radical Islamists in the region.
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Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt interrupted their diplomatic ties with Qatar a year ago, as result of what they considered as a “flagrant interference” in Arab states –mainly Egypt and Libya– through its strong support to the extremist wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allied militia.
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The summit called as well on Arab countries to support the budget of the Palestine for a year starting from the first April. Arab leaders also supported the Palestinian Central Council resolutions calling for a review of political, economic and security relations with Israel, to respect the signed agreements and resolutions of international legitimacy.
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On Libya, the Arab summit called on member countries to provide full political and material support to the legitimate government in Libya, including supporting the Libyan national army.
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The Arab leaders demanded the Security Council to quickly lift the ban on arms imports to the legitimate Libyan government. They also stressed their support to the Libyan government in its efforts to control the borders with neighboring countries. Qatar expressed full reservation regarding this resolution.
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Syria
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The summit also stressed the need for the UN Security Council to take full responsibilities towards dealing with the course of the Syrian crisis, and called for the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to continue contacts with the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the establishment of a common plan of action to ensure the achievement of a political solution to the Syrian conflicts, according to the Geneva Conference 1.
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As well, the Arab leaders renewed their emphasis on the full, absolute sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over the three Gulf islands claimed by Iran, calling on the Iranian government to enter into direct negotiations with the United Arab Emirates or recourse to the International Court of Justice to find a peaceful solution to the issue of the islands.
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Common Market
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Regarding plans to establish an inter-Arab common market, the final declaration emphasize that “the achievement of Arab economic integration is an integral part of the Arab national security system, including the completion of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the achievement of food security initiative Sudan”.
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It also stresses the need to achieve sustainable development and the optimal utilization of resources and also to narrow the Arab Food gap and future management of financial resources to achieve part Arab water security.
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The League of Arab States was created in Cairo on 22 March 1945 by six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945.
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Currently, the League has 22 members, although Syria’s participation has been suspended since November 2011, as a consequence of Damascus government repression during the ongoing uprising and civil war.
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These members are: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
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The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), which is recognised by some Arab members, and Chad (with nearly one million Arabic-speaking population) are not included as official members.
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The total population the Arab countries is estimated to amount to 400 million inhabitants.
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Though Islam is the official religion of Arab States, some of them have large Christian population, such as Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq and Syria.
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*Image: Map: Arab region | Author: kobe bryant | Wikimedia Commons
**President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt |  Kremlin.ru | Wikimedia Commons
***Saudi king Salman | Mazen AlDarrab; The original uploader was سامي الرحيلي at Arabic Wikipedia