ARAB LEAGUE secretary-general Nabil el-Araby appealed to Arab states today to find a “military and political” solution to extremist jihadist groups in the region.

He said that groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State (Isis) “not only threatens a state’s authority, but threatens its very existence.”

An Arab League insider told reporters that the regional ministers were considering co-ordinating with the United States to confront the terrorist organisation.

A day after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr Ellaraby said: “What is needed is a clear decision for a comprehensive confrontation, militarily and politically.”

US President Barack Obama outlined a plan for a broad coalition to defeat Isis at the Nato summit in Newport on Friday, but has insisted he does not want to draw the West into another protracted ground war in Iraq.

He will hope that Arab League support would be enough to form that coalition, but as Mr el-Araby lamented yesterday, the league’s 22 members have repeatedly failed to help each other take on armed groups — either because of disagreements or fears over meddling in others’ internal affairs.

Mr el-Araby said an agreement would be needed to activate a clause in a 1950 defence pact to militarily aid other states.

The diplomatic wrangling came as the US stepped up its use of air strikes against Isis in Iraq.

It said it struck Isis forces near the Haditha dam in Anbar province for the first time, in an operation conceived by the Iraqi military.