The formation of an Islamic military coalition to fight terrorism was announced yesterday in Saudi Arabia. It will be based in Riyadh and aims to coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism and develop necessary programmes and mechanisms to support these efforts.

The new coalition is composed of 34 countries and is led by Saudi Arabia. The 34 states that form the coalition are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, the Comoros, Qatar, Côte d’Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.

The formation of the coalition coincides with the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz granting the President of Yemen Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s request for a 7 day ceasefire, starting from today, which also coincides with the beginning of Yemeni talks to end the crisis.

The leadership of the coalition forces which are led by Saudi Arabia said in a statement that President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi sent a letter to the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz which informed the leadership of the coalition that the government had decided to announce a ceasefire for 7 days that would be automatically renewed if the other side shows true commitment to it.

The leadership of the coalition forces also stated that President Hadi informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the necessity to take adequate guarantees from the other side so that the coalition forces are not forced to deal with any breach of the ceasefire on a permanent basis.

Coalition forces confirmed that the ceasefire will begin at 12 noon today (Sana’a timing) and that they retain the right to respond to any breach of the ceasefire, and that it is the desire of President Hadi that a positive atmosphere for successful consultations is created in order to protect Yemen and its people.