On eve of meeting of 49 defence ministers at Nato HQ, US defence secretary says ‘we need to accelerate the campaign’

The US defence secretary has refused to rule out Saudi Arabia sending ground troops into Syria, but added that it was just one option and there were other ways the Saudis could contribute to the fight against Islamic State.

Ash Carter was speaking on the eve of a meeting of defence ministers from 49 countries at Nato headquarters to discuss how to step up efforts against Isis in Syria and Iraq.

He said the meeting was important “because we do need to accelerate the campaign and we have a very clear operational picture of how to do it. Now we just need the resources and the forces to fall in behind it.”

The speed of the advance into northern Syria of government troops, supported by Russian airstrikes and Iranian-backed militia, has taken the US-led coalition by surprise.

The Saudi defence ministry last week proposed contributing ground troops as part of an international effort in Syria. The Saudi defence minister and deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is to attend the Brussels meeting, along with defence ministers from Nato countries and from the Middle East.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also offered ground troops.

Options for Saudi, which has an army of 175,00-200,000, range from a small token force operating alongside an estimated 50 US special forces in Syria through to intervention on a larger scale, possibly through Turkey, to establish a safe haven for civilians and rebels opposed to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

There is concern and scepticism expressed at Nato HQ among non-US officials about the feasibility at this stage of a large-scale intervention. They questioned how fast Saudi could react and whether it could intervene militarily given its focus on its war in Yemen, and cautioned that the country had made promises before that proved empty.

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The US has long been arguing for greater involvement of regional forces.

Carter, briefing reporters, welcomed the prospect of “strong contributions” from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, describing this as a “good thing”. They understood the terrain and could link up with other forces, he said.

“So I will be discussing that but I just want to emphasise there are lots of different ways that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain can contribute. One of them is on the ground – and we’ll definitely be discussing that – but there are lots of other ways as well.”

He said that military action alone was not enough and there were lots of other activities members of the coalition could be involved with, such as countering Isis messaging, cutting its finances and blocking the flow of foreign fighters.

Given that the US and its allies have been in action against Isis in Syria and Iraq since September 2014, it is remarkable that the meeting on Thursday afternoon is the first to be held by the defence ministers from the anti-Isis coalition.

The British defence secretary, Michael Fallon, asked about troops from Saudi Arabia, said: “We want the Gulf states and all coalition members to look at the commitments they have made and what more they can contribute to the campaign against Daesh [Isis] and we will be discussing that at the Nato meeting.”

Fallon did not directly refer to ground troops and may have been thinking more in terms of a call is for the Gulf states to look at whether they could contribute more in terms of intelligence-gathering, finance, maritime services or more airstrikes.

The Nato defence ministers are to discuss on Thursday morning a joint request from Germany and Turkey for Nato to intervene in the migrant crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, providing ships and helicopters as well as surveillance,.

While there is a good chance the request will be granted, there is some resistance, with arguments that a heavy naval presence would make it safer for migrants and encourage more to make the trip.

Fallon denied the Turkish-German request was a sign that EU efforts were failing.



But he sounded positive about the request. “Anything that helps save lives in the eastern Med and helps disrupt criminals behind this trafficking is extremely welcome and we will be looking at that proposal very seriously,” he said.