Arab ministers hold consultative meeting in #Egypt ahead of #Sharm summit

Latest Arab strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen are expected to dominate the upcoming summit in southern Sinai

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby (R) arrives for the venue for a meeting of the Arab League Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 26, 2015

Arab foreign ministers held a consultative meeting on Thursday ahead of their preparatory session for the upcoming Arab League summit, as several Arab states announced war against rebels in Yemen.

Ministers discussed the latest developments on the Arab ‘Firmness Storm’ operation in Yemen, launched by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies against Houthi fighters in Yemen, state news agency As reported.

Egypt said earlier on Thursday it is providing political and military support for the operation.

Jordan, Morocco and Sudan have also expressed their readiness to participate.  

Saudi Arabia and four other Gulf states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, said they have "answered the call of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to protect Yemen and its people from the aggression of the (Shia) Houthi militia."

Meanwhile, AFP reported Arab states are set to consider a joint military force at the upcoming summit held in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh, a proposal that was put forward earlier in March by Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.  

Gulf broadcaster Al-Arabiya TV reported that the Saudi Kingdom was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operation. 

The Arab Summit will be held on 28-29 March in Sharm El-Sheikh.

#Qatar's #emir to attend #Sharm #Arab summit, Egypt minister says

Qatar's emir to attend Sharm Arab summit, Egypt minister says

Despite tensions with Cairo, Egyptian minister says Qatar's emir will attend an Arab League summit due later this month in Sharm El-Sheikh

Emir of Qatar Sheik Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Qatar's emir will attend an Arab League summit due to take place in Egypt later this month, an Egyptian official said, sign of a possible ease in political tensions between the two Arab states.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in comments to private TV channel Sada El-Balad on Tuesday that Egypt "has received a notification" that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad will participate in the annual gathering of the 22-member bloc.

The 26th Arab League summit will take place on March 28-29 in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, with national security in the Arab countries topping the agenda, officials say.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman is expected to lead a line-up of Arab leaders at the summit who will also include Iraqi President Fouad Masoum.

Egypt and Qatar have fallen out over Doha's backing of Egyptian Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted in 2013, and his Muslim Brotherhood group. 

Cairo has been incensed by Doha's hosting of several exiled leaders of the Brotherhood, now banned and designated a terrorist organisation by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Qatar's emir did not attend a global investor conference Egypt hosted earlier this month in the coastal city. But a delegation from his country headed by a top economic ministry official participated in the three-day international gathering which saw Egypt secure $12 billion of investments and central bank deposits from Arab Gulf allies of Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and sign billions of dollars of deals.

In February, Qatar recalled its ambassador to Cairo over a spat at a meeting of the league in Cairo where Egypt's delegates accused Doha of supporting terrorism.

The new flare-up of tension came after Qatar expressed reservations over Egypt's recent air strikes against Islamic State group targets in Libya in response to the beheading of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians.

Qatar's suspension in December 2014 of its Egypt-focused Al Jazeera channel, accused by Cairo of serving as a mouthpiece for the Brotherhood, as well as its banishing of seven Brotherhood leaders in September were seen as good-will gestures by Doha to mend relations between both states.