1ST LEAD Saudis, UAE, US pledge 190m dollars for anti-Islamist force in Africa By Christian Boehmer and Sebastian Kunigkeit, dpa

La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France (dpa) - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have pledged a total of 190 million dollars to five countries in Africa‘s Sahel region to strengthen regional security forces in the fight against Islamist terrorism.The pledges came during a special conference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron outside of Paris on Wednesday to discuss the fight against terrorism with the presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad.The so-called Group of Five (G5) Sahel countries came together in 2014 to form a common military force to battle Islamist rebels, terrorist militias and organized crime in their region.The Sahel G5 force got a financial boost from the pledges of 100 million dollars from the Saudis, 30 million from the UAE, and 60 million from the US.The European Union had previously announced a pledge of 50 million euros (59 million dollars). Macron did not give a total amount for aid pledged.German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a swift start to German and international aid during the special talks, held in a castle in the south-western Paris suburb of La Celle-Saint-Cloud."Here we are dealing with an urgent task," Merkel said."Islamist terrorism is spreading," the chancellor said. "We cannot wait; we must instead, as quickly as possible, begin to lead this fight."Macron said the force‘s establishment would be accelerated and include at least 5,000 troops. "We must win the battle against terrorism and terrorist-jihadism in the Sahel," he said, adding that the first victories of the efforts must occur in the first half of 2018. "The Sahel coalition is born," Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said.