Arab League contemplates forming joint military force

DOHA - The Arab League of Nations is mulling forming a joint military force due to growing concerns over security within the Middle East and the Horn of Africa as it seeks to assert authority by pushing for trade and investment.

Egypt first tabled the proposal, a senior member of the union, which suggested a move to establish a joint Arab military force, comprising land, sea, air, and special forces with a central command, similar to the US Africa Command.

Funding and equipment would be contributed by all Arab League member states, aiming for rapid defense and strike capabilities amid global conflicts, according to a report by UAE-based The National, a move that could enhance the member states' response to disasters in the region.

Today, the Arab League–OIC ministerial meeting will be held in Doha, preparing for an emergency summit on Israel’s Sept. 9 airstrike in Qatar. Israel fired at Hamas's overseas headquarters without prior notice, leading to complaints from the members of the international community.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud arrived in Doha on Sunday night to join an Arab League–OIC heads of state meeting preparing for an emergency summit on Israel’s September 9 airstrike in Qatar, where he is also expected to hold sideline meetings with counterparts, Villa Somalia said.

This also comes amid growing animosity between Egypt and Ethiopia over the recent commissioning of the Grand Renaissance Dam along the Nile River, with Cairo and Sudan insisting the project shall have a massive negative impact downstream.

Egypt is now preparing the deployment of forces to Somalia to help in the peacekeeping operations, but the move has been challenged by Ethiopia, which argues that the Egyptian forces' presence would erode gains made in the Al-Shabaab war.

Cairo had a few years ago to defend Somalia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty after Ethiopia signed a secret agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland, with Addis Ababa aiming at least 20 kilometres of access to the Red Sea.

GAROWE ONLINE