UK to send military trainers to Jordan to help fight Islamic State, Theresa May announces on trip to the Middle East

BRITAIN will send our best military trainers to Jordan to help the fight against Islamic State, Theresa May is set to announce.

Arriving in Amman she will set out a package of measures to bolster cooperation in the region to tackle violent extremism.

Beginning the three-day trip in Jordan, the PM will announce a new training partnership to help the Jordanian Air Force bomb ISIS in its Syrian strongholds.

This will include to work on combat action in the air and on land, and supporting aviation safety.

"It is clearly in the UK's security and prosperity interests to support Jordan and Saudi Arabia in tackling regional challenges to create a more stable region, and in delivering their ambitious reform programmes to ensure their own stability," she said.

By working with Jordan, "we are helping keep British people safe", the PM insisted.

After the Westminster terror attack, Mrs May will highlight the need for allies to come together to fight the extremism threat.

She will also vow closer ties with Jordan and Saudi Arabia as she launches a charm offensive to beef up support for post-Brexit trade deals.

Britain exports £6.5billion-worth of goods and services to the oil-rich Saudi state each year – making it the UK’s largest partner in the region.

Mrs May said there is "immense potential for Saudi investment to provide a boost to the British economy."

Chancellor Philip Hammond is touring India this week to drum up support there too.

And amid growing concern about the Saudi campaign in Yemen, the PM will insist vital counter-terror intelligence from the Saudi Kingdom has saved “potentially hundreds of lives” in Britain.

She faces potential embarrassment after the news that Scotland Yard was discussing whether to launch an investigation into war crimes against Saudi Arabia in Yemen's destructive civil war.

And Boris Johnson was forced to apologise after a General was egged on a trip to London last week - and another tried to perform a citizen's arrest on him.

The PM has faced repeated calls to suspend arms sales to the region amid claims of human rights abuses.

Amnesty International said Mrs May must tell her hosts that their country's record is "totally unacceptable" and urged her to raise the issues of "torture, grossly unfair trials and the use of the death penalty" - as well as the "death and destruction" in Yemen.