Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called on Monday for the creation of a unified Arab force to battle the spread of the Takfiri groups.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called on Monday for the creation of a unified Arab force to battle the spread of the Takfiri groups.

"There is an urgent need for the creation of a multi-purpose common Arab military force... able to intervene rapidly to fight terrorism and the activities of terrorist groups," Arabi told a meeting of league foreign ministers in Cairo.

He also stressed the importance of "cooperation in areas related to security protection and the exchange of information between Arab countries."

Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters last week that the bloc's leaders are expected to focus on the creation of such a common force when they meet for its annual summit on March 28-29 in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He had said such a force was important as a "symbolic" show of deterrence at times of "conflict or disasters".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has also called for such a force, saying it is needed to confront security threats in a region where the Takfiri group ISIL holds swathes of Syria and Iraq and has gained a foothold in Egypt's neighbor Libya.

He has suggested that a number of Arab League members, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, are considering supporting the idea.