Arab foreign ministers are due to announce cooperation with the United States against the Islamic State group (formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant — ISIL), a diplomat told Egyptian state news agency MENA Sunday.

Foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as an advisor to Jordan's foreign minister, are currently holding closed-door talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah.

The source, who was not named, told MENA that Saturday's talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Arab League chief Nabil El-Araby focused on plans to confront the Islamic State group.

A senior US State Department official said Kerry and El-Araby "discussed the need for the Arab League and its members to take a strong position in the coalition that is developing against [the Islamic State]," AFP also reported Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Arab League is holding a ministerial meeting in Cairo Sunday to address fast-moving changes in the region.

Obama outlined a plan at a NATO summit meeting Friday for a broad coalition to defeat the Islamic State that led an offensive that overran parts of five Iraqi provinces in June and also holds significant territory in neighbouring Syria.