Arab nations promise to cooperate in fight against Islamic State militants

Arab nations have agreed to take "necessary measures" and are prepared to cooperate internationally to confront Islamic State (IS) militants, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi says.

At the start of a foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Arabi called for a political and military confrontation with the jihadists and other militants he said threatened the existence of Arab states. He later stopped short of explicitly backing American air strikes targeting IS jihadists who control swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"The Arab foreign ministers have agreed to take the necessary measures to confront terrorist groups including [IS]," Arabi said.

"International cooperation is included; international cooperation on all fronts," he said.

The ministers agreed to "take all measures to counter terrorism: political, security and ideological", he added, without spelling out what these measures would be.

His remarks came as the United States expanded air strikes against the militants and sought wider regional backing for its campaign.