Kerry to Hold Arab Anti-IS Talks Wednesday

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Arab foreign ministers in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as he bids for a broad coalition against the Islamic State, a senior Egyptian foreign ministry official said.

The talks in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, which will continue into Thursday, will be attended by ministers from Egypt, Jordan and the six Gulf Arab states as well as Iraq, the official told Agence France Presse.

The ministers "are going to meet Kerry on Wednesday and Thursday in Jeddah as part of efforts to tackle terrorism," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil will also take part in the talks, a government official in Beirut told AFP.

The Egyptian official said Cairo supports "all international efforts to fight terrorism" and would "support U.S. efforts politically."

"But as for any possible Egyptian participation in concrete security measures, this must be done under a U.N. mandate and in the framework of a Security Council resolution."

Kerry was headed to the region on Tuesday in a bid to build an enduring coalition against the jihadists, who have seized swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The U.S. top diplomat pledged to build "the broadest possible coalition of partners around the globe to confront, degrade and ultimately defeat (IS)."

"Almost every single country has a role to play in eliminating the (IS) threat and the evil that it represents," Kerry said.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called Tuesday for international backing of Iraq's new government in its fight against the Islamic State, as Washington drummed up support for a coalition to defeat the militants.

The Arab League has stopped short of explicitly backing ongoing U.S. air strikes on the IS militants.

Iraq's new Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi formed a government on Monday that Washington said could unite the divided country and potentially undercut Sunni support for the Islamic State militants who oppose the Shiite-dominated government.

Arabi in a statement "expressed his support for the new government in Baghdad, and support for its efforts to counter terrorism by (IS)."

He "affirmed the necessity of rallying regional and international efforts to bolster Iraq in this critical phase," the statement added.

Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo on Sunday agreed to take the "necessary measures" and cooperate internationally to confront the militants, who have also overrun parts of Syria and effectively erased part of its border with Iraq.