CAIRO, Mar 18 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s foreign minister said on Friday that the idea of an Arab unified military force still exists, and that Egypt is willing to participate in any coalition strategically aimed at protecting Arab national security.

“Until now our contribution to the international coalition against terrorism has been related to supporting efforts" that are being exerted, Sameh Shukri told the state-owned al-Ahram, adding that Egypt's role has not been to carry out military missions, but it has been related to exchanging intelligence, stopping the flow of funds and arms to terrorists and fighting extremist ideologies. 

Egypt's participation in any coalition is for strategic reasons, and is in relation to “Egypt’s vision” on protecting national Arab security.

For the past nine months, Egypt has been participating in the Saudi-led military exercises “North Thunder,” which included approximately 20 other Arab and Muslim states.

On Dec. 15, Saudi Arabia announced it launched a Saudi-led Islamic alliance to fight terrorism, made up of 34 countries, including Egypt.

According to Shukri, the two initiatives are separate. The Islamic coalition is specifically for fighting terrorism while the Arab joint-military drills are broader in scope and aim to protect Arab security from all that threatens it.

The Arab Summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Mar. 2015 approved the proposed idea of a joint Arab force to assume functions of military intervention in opposition to any security threats in the Arab region.

Egypt participated in the ongoing Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen with its navy and air force, and had not ruled out the possibility of deploying ground troops if needed.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was recently quoted as saying that military intervention in Libya is risky and that foreign powers should support a military commander based in the East.