Trump planning anti-Daesh summit this month

WASHINGTON: Diplomatic sources in Washington, DC have confirmed to Arab News that the Trump administration is planning an anti-Daesh summit to be held in the US capital as early as March 21.

Plans for the summit have been ongoing “for weeks,” said the sources, and are being discussed with core members of the anti-Daesh coalition.

The coalition includes more than 60 countries. Those from the Middle East are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Lebanon.

Sources confirmed that both Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil are planning to attend the meeting, marking the first visit for many of these delegations to Washington since President Donald Trump entered office.

While the agenda is still being worked on, the summit is expected to be held at the ministerial level, and would follow in its timing the rollout of the Trump administration’s new anti-Daesh strategy.

The Pentagon had submitted recommendations to the White House on Monday, following a 30-day review that lays out the military, diplomatic and financial options to defeat the group.

In this context, the anti-Daesh meeting is similar to previous summits the Obama administration had held in the past three years.

The last anti-Daesh Summit was convened in London in December, led by former US Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

The news of the meeting comes as Defense Secretary James Mattis has presided over national security meetings this week to discuss his department’s recommendations and the way forward.

Mattis has also been working on staffing the Pentagon, blocking — according to sources — two names who worked with and advised Trump during the campaign, and favoring a more moderate line of appointees.

Politico reported yesterday that Mattis is considering the appointment of former US Ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan Anne Patterson as his undersecretary of defense for policy, the fourthhighest position at the Pentagon.

Patterson is a career diplomat who has worked for Republican and Democratic presidents. Her appointment, however, is facing a pushback from White House officials who, according to Politico, see her as someone “who worked closely with former Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi and his Islamist government.”