Pakistan may join anti-IS coalition

Pakistan is considering a U.S. request to join a multinational coalition against the Islamic State terror group, which has become the most formidable threat to peace after al-Qaeda, officials said.

The U.S. has requested Pakistan to join the Sahel to South Asia alliance, Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said, adding that Pakistan is waiting for “details”.

IS has seized hundreds of square miles in Iraq and Syria. But both civil and military leadership is in a fix as joining the coalition will bring domestic backlash.

“Joining a new war will be difficult to sell in the country due to opposition from political and religious groups,” a security official said. But remaining out of the new group may increase isolation of the country which already faced international criticism for “not doing enough” against the war on terror.

Pakistan is also wary of possible reaction from Saudi Arabia as Islamabad refused to join a coalition led by Riyadh in Yemen. “Now joining the new group may further anger the Saudis who are already not happy with Pakistan over the issue of Yemen,” the official said.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is travelling to New York this week to attend the U.N. General Assembly annual session. He is expected to visit the U.S. again next month on an official trip to meet President Barack Obama.

According to government sources, he is expected to have something to show the Americans that Pakistan is not a reluctant ally as it is generally perceived in Washington. Experts believe that the decision to join anti-IS alliance would need support of Parliament.

The government sources said that by joining the new coalition, Pakistan can expect that monetary assistance from the so-called Coalition Support Funds to continue to flow, which otherwise is likely to be stopped after 2015.