ABU DHABI (AFP) – The United Arab Emirates voiced readiness
Wednesday to back world efforts to confront the threat from
jihadists, amid calls by Western powers for an international fight
against the Islamic State.
The UAE affirms “its solidarity with regional and international
efforts against terrorist threats… and its readiness to take needed
measures to confront this phenomenon in line with UN Security
Council Resolution 2170,” its foreign ministry said.
The resolution, passed last month, seeks to cut funds and the flow
of foreign fighters both to the Islamic State, which has seized
swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, and to Al-Qaeda’s Syrian
affiliate, Al-Nusra Front.
The UAE said it “stands against terrorist threats facing our region
and the world, especially with the dangerous human rights
violations by terrorist groups in Iraq, Syria and other Arab and
Muslim countries such as Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and Afghanistan
suffering from… movements such as IS, Al-Nusra, and Al-Qaeda.”
Last month, Washington confirmed reports that UAE warplanes had
twice bombed Islamist militias in Libya.
Abu Dhabi “strongly condemns the continuing terrorist and criminal
acts by extremist groups, especially the so-called IS… that
undermine regional and international stability,” said the statement
carried by the official WAM news agency.
US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for an international
front against jihadists in Iraq and Syria after they beheaded a
second American reporter Steven Sotloff.
Britain and France meanwhile weighed military action.
The Islamic State, a Sunni extremist group, has gained prominence
in recent months, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” in regions under
its control in Iraq and Syria.
