UAE to Aid in Counter-Terror Military Efforts

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The United Arab Emirates is instituting an armed forces commission to supply financial and military aid to Arab allies for counter-terror efforts, Defense News reports.

The commission is expected to be chaired by five senior members from the UAE Armed Forces to look at the UAE security interests and review, evaluate and assess the counterterrorism requirements of Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Bahrain.

The commission will supply arms from French, Italian, Serbian and Ukrainian companies, utilizing the UAE’s strong relationships with these countries.

The UAE has had a longstanding military relationship with Italy and France, and a relatively new cooperation with Ukraine, when last February, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced at the International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi a deal for military and technical cooperation with the UAE, although details were not released.

In 2014, the UAE also signed a military cooperation agreement with Serbia that includes an exchange of information and technologies between their defense industries as well as training camps.

As terrorist activities increased in the region and Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti mosques were attacked, counter-terror operations were launched in Sinai and military operations in Yemen, and the UAE geared up its anti-terrorism awareness internally.

Libya, Egypt, Bahrain and Iraq are all countries that are affected by terrorist threats, so the UAE’s financial aid is extremely valuable in the regional fight against terror. But altruistic aid is not the only reason for this commission.

According to Mohammad Al Asoomi, a UAE-based economist, the harmful aspects of terrorism are not limited to those countries directly affected. “There are negative repercussions on other countries and on the global economy as a whole, especially attacks that lead to widespread economic destruction in the main oil-producing countries, or countries that enjoy strategic locations on the map of international trade, such as Egypt with ownership of the Suez Canal trade artery.”