Arab summit agrees on unified military force for crises

Arab leaders at a summit in Egypt announced the formation of a unified military force to counter growing security threats from Yemen to Libya and as regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran engage in sectarian proxy wars.

Working out the mechanism and logistics of the unified force, an idea floated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, could take months.

Islamic State militants have taken over swathes of Iraq and Syria and spawned splinter groups across the Arab world. The United States and other major powers are seeking a final nuclear deal with Iran, in a process that worries many Sunni Arab leaders wary of Shi'ite Iran's growing regional influence.

The summit final communiqué called for "coordination, efforts and steps to establish an unified Arab force" to intervene in countries such as Yemen.

The move came after Saudi Arabia patched together a 10-nation Arab coalition against Houthi fighters and launched military strikes there on Thursday.

Arab leaders said the Saudi-led operation in Yemen would continue until the Iranian-allied Houthis, who have made rapid advances, withdraw and hand over their weapons and the country is united.

The Saudi-led operation in Yemen has underlined the rivalry between the predominantly Sunni kingdom and Shi'ite Iran and it could inflame sectarian proxy conflicts that have spread in the Middle East since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.

Sisi has repeatedly called for concerted Arab and Western action against what he sees as an existential threat posed by militant groups operating in Libya and elsewhere.

He ordered air strikes against Islamic State militants in Libya after the Sunni group beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians there.