Saudis lead new 34-nation “Islamic military alliance” to fight terror

The new counterterrorism coalition announced Tuesday by Saudi Arabia, includes 34 nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, war-torn countries such as Libya and Yemen and African nations under terror assault, such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria. But Shiite Iran is not a member, nor Iraq which has a large Shiite majority. The new alliance would be Saudi-led and its operations center based in Riyadh. It will be committed to fighting terrorism which “is forbidden by Islam as a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security."
DEBKAfile: No organizations are mentioned by name in the statement – including the Islamic State.The durability of this alliance is widely compared to that of the 65-member anti-ISIS coalition often hailed by President Obama – long on paper, short in action.