The Chiefs of Staff of the Tunisian, Jordanian and Omani armies arrived in Cairo Tuesday to discuss ways to establish the joint Arab military force to fight the region’s growing extremist threat, Youm7 reported.
“Army chiefs from member states are scheduled to meet in Cairo Wednesday for talks on details of how the force will be created, its role and financing along with tasks of each state,” airport sources told Youm7 Tuesday.
The meeting comes a month after the closing session of the Arab League Summit held in Sharm al-Sheikh in which President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi announced “member states have agreed to form a joint military force to deal with regional security issued.”
Earlier this month, the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Mahmoud Hegazy headed to Saudi Arabia where he met with Arab counterparts to discuss ways to establish the joint Arab military force.
However, the Arab States participating in the proposed joint force remain unknown; meanwhile Iraq has expressed reservations to the notion.
Sisi’s first call to establish the force followed the killing of 20 Egyptian Copts by the Islamic State (IS) group in Libya in February. Egypt launched retaliatory airstrikes at IS targets in eastern Libya in collaboration with the internationally-recognized Libyan government based in Tobruk.
