An Arab League summit expected to back a Saudi-led offensive against Yemeni rebels and approve a joint military force began in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday. Kuwaiti Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah told a contingent of Arab leaders that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen poses a threat on the region. "We support Saudi Arabia and the GCC's right to defend their countries," he said during his opening speech. Al-Sabah also emphasized on the need to find a solution for the conflict in Libya. He then renewed calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital. Yemen President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi was present along with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab leaders. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also scheduled to address the summit. President Hadi arrived to Egypt on Friday to attend the 26th Arab League summit, at which the crisis in Yemen will take center stage. State television broadcast footage showed Hadi arrival at the summit venue, the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where he was greeted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The two-day summit is being held just a few days after a Saudi-led regional coalition launched a military campaign "Operation Decisive Storm" against the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels who have taken control of major cities in the West of Yemen. Hadi had arrived in Riyadh on Thursday the same day the air strikes were launched. Several heads of states, including Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir, have already arrived in Egypt and many others are expected to arrive today. The summit is also expected to focus on creating an Arab military force to fight against extremist militants or their rival Iran, a project foreign ministers have already signed a draft agreement in the Arab League meeting on Thursday. The ministers called on the leaders of the Arab League's 22-member nations to meet within a month to lay out the details of the military force such as budgeting. The chaos in Libya and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will also be on top of this year's agenda.
