Arab League Chief Says Confront ISIS “Militarily & Politically”

It wasn’t immediately clear what steps the Arab League would take in supporting the West’s campaign against the Islamic State. Reaching a consensus on how to move could be complicated by Arab world rivalries and member countries’ different spheres of influence.

Elaraby himself noted that the Arab League’s member states have failed to help each other in the past when facing local armed groups, often because of disagreements and fear of being accused of meddling in one another’s affairs. He called the Islamic State a threat to the existence of Iraq and its neighbors. It is “one of the examples of the challenges that are violently shaking the Arab world, and one the Arab League, regrettably, has not been able to confront,” he said.