ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates is instituting an armed forces commission to supply financial and military aid to Arab allies for counterterrorism efforts, a UAE source told Defense News.

The commission, ordered by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in June, is expected to be chaired by five senior members from the UAE Armed Forces to review, evaluate and assess the counterterrorism requirements of Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Bahrain, the source added.

The UAE has had a longstanding military relationship with Italy and France, and is whoengaged in discussions to acquire French Dassault Rafale fighter jets.

Last February, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced at the International Defence Exhibition in Abu Dhabi a deal for military and technical cooperation with the UAE, although without releasing details were not released.of the agreement.

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

According to Mohammad Al Asoomi, a UAE-based economist, the harmful aspects of terrorism are not limited to those countries directly affected.

"We are looking for the security interests of the UAE and how to meet these needs by extending assistance to other countries in the region that face terrorist threats such as Libya, Egypt, Iraq and Bahrain to meet their military requirements," the official said.

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

The UAE has had a longstanding military relationship with Italy and France, and is whoengaged in discussions to acquire French Dassault Rafale fighter jets.

Last February, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced at the International Defence Exhibition in Abu Dhabi a deal for military and technical cooperation with the UAE, although without releasing details were not released.of the agreement.

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.

"The UAE has very strong ties with arms exporters in the West and East to meet the strategic and national security needs of itself and these states; this will develop a strategic depth for the UAE especially after the [nuclear] deal with Iran is inked," the official said.

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

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," he said.

David Andrew Weinberg, senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, sees this as a positive development, especially in Iraq.

"A Sunni-ruled gulf state providing military aid to Baghdad could be seen as a very positive development, boosting the [Haider] Al-Abadi government's ability and motivation to assert the state's armed forces to put Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias under greater control, or at least off the front lines in Sunni areas of the country," he said.

"Libya, Egypt, Bahrain and Iraq are all countries that are struggling to fight genuine terrorist threats, so helping finance their military budgets in that sense is extremely valuable in the fight against terror," Weinberg added.

Weinberg, however, questioned if any safeguards or conditions will be built into the arrangements.

"Unless the currency value of these arms deals is particularly high, it's hard to envision them changing the overall balance of power in the region. However, what it does suggest is that the UAE is further institutionalizing its aid policy, developing an apparatus to provide greater military aid while leveraging European producers to make up for the fact that the UAE's domestic weapons manufacturing sector is presumably not yet capable of providing all these armaments itself."

Twitter: @awadz

Awad Mustafa was a Middle East and Africa correspondent for Defense News.

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