Jordan's King Abdullah II said the Arab-Islamic-western coalition against the terrorist group Daesh would succeed in curtaining the group's activities in Syria and Iraq.
In his first interview since pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh was burned alive by the group, the King told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that coalition is considering helping the Syrians and Iraqis via operations by special troops against the group members in in the two countries.
He said he didn't watch the video of the pilot, calling it propaganda that has backfired on the terrorist group.
The King said that the video was Daesh grabbing a "tiger by the tail."
"And it just motivated Jordanians to sort of rally around the flag, and the gloves have come off," King Abdullah said in Amman. "Actually the barbarity of the way they executed our brave hero I think shocked the Muslim world -- and specifically Jordanians and people from this region."
King Abdullah said that though he didn't see the video, the pictures in the papers of the killing were inescapable. And he was briefed by aides who had watched the video. He was filled with disgust and sadness for the pilot's family, he said.
He said Daesh tries to appeal to "deluded young men and women" who believe they are becoming part of a caliphate, or Islamic state.
It's a false link, King Abdullah said. It "has no truth or bearing to our history," he said.
He called for a unified response to the group's threat.
"I've said this to leaders, both in the Islamic and Arab world and to the world in general, this is a third World War by other means," he said. "This brings Muslims, Christians, other religions together in this generational fight that all of us have to be in this together."
There are three components to the fight: a military response, a security response and an ideological response, he said. Changing minds, he said, will be the long-term element of the battle.
Source: MENA