Riyadh, Sep 18 (IANS): Religious scholars in Saudi Arabia have vowed their support to recent moves undertaken by Riyadh to tackle Islamic State (IS) Sunni extremist group, a media report said Thursday.

In a statement Wednesday, the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars warned Muslims against joining militant groups, saying their "deviant doctrine" has no place in Islam, Arab News reported.

Islamic law prohibits Muslims from fighting overseas, and ignoring the warnings of their rulers, the statement said.

The religious ruling came after the Islamic scholars met earlier this week to discuss the threat of terrorism and ways to address it.

Hailing its ban on citizens who were fighting abroad, the Saudi's highest religious authority backed the government’s efforts to track down the followers of terrorist groups such as IS, Al Qaeda, Yemen's Houthis, Hezbollah and other foreign extremist elements.

The statement also equated the terrorist acts of IS and Al Qaeda militants to the crimes being perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces.

The council’s chairman, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, last month branded IS and Al Qaeda as Islam’s "enemy number one".

Saudi Arabia is a key regional partner of a US-led international coalition.

The Gulf nation hosted a summit last week in Jeddah with US Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of 10 Middle Eastern countries that aimed to build a coalition against the militants.

On similar lines in Paris, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal backed plans to bomb IS strongholds in Syria.