Obama seeks Gulf help against IS despite strains

US President Barack Obama met Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia today to push for increased efforts against the Islamic State group, despite strains in their ties with Washington.
Making what is likely his final presidential visit to historic American allies, Obama is seeking to overcome recent tensions with Sunni Arab Gulf states rooted in US overtures to their regional rival Iran.
With IS suffering a series of recent setbacks in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq, Washington is seeking more help from the oil-rich Gulf monarchies to keep up the pressure.
After bilateral talks with Saudi King Salman the day before, Obama posed today for a summit photo with six leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries before heading into four hours of talks at a royal palace.

In a highly unusual move, Saudi state news channel Al-Ekhbaria did not broadcast the start of the meeting, just as it did not show Obama's airport arrival on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states belong to the US-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq since mid-2014.

But yesterday US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter -- in Riyadh with Obama -- urged them "to do more".
He pointed specifically to Iraq, calling for more support for Baghdad, which is battling political chaos and an economic crisis as well as the extremists.
Sunni support for "multi-sectarian governance and reconstruction" in Shiite-majority Iraq will be critical to ensuring the defeat of IS, the Pentagon chief said after meeting Gulf counterparts.

In Baghdad earlier this week Carter announced that the United States would send more troops and make Apache attack helicopters available to Iraq as its forces push a renewed fightback against the jihadists aimed at eventually retaking the IS hub of Mosul.
Analysts said Syria would also be on the table at the summit, with Washington likely pushing Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies to influence the Syrian opposition, which they have long supported, to abide by a ceasefire.
"I think Syria will obviously be a big focus, ensuring that the Saudis focus their diplomatic energies on the ceasefire, perhaps soliciting more Saudi support on refugees. But then also asking the Saudis to do more on the Islamic State," said Frederic Wehrey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Washington hopes the ceasefire, and peace talks in Geneva, can help resolve Syria's broader conflict to focus attention on the fight against IS and other jihadist groups.
US Secretary of State John Kerry also joined Obama in Riyadh, where he held talks with Saudi Arabia's powerful Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman.