Former Pakistani Army Chief Appointed Head of Saudi-Led Military Coalition
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Retired Pakistan Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif has been appointed as the head of Saudi Arabia's so-called Islamic military coalition formed allegedly to combat terrorism.
Confirming the news, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday that the decision was taken after taking the incumbent government into confidence and it was finalized in Islamabad first.
The headquarters of the new Saudi-led coalition will be based in Riyadh.
The Pakistani Defense Minister said that any such assignment or posting requires proper clearance from both the government and General Headquarters and confirmed that due process was followed before finalizing the agreement.
"This thing was in the pipeline for quite some time and the prime minister was also part of the deliberations," Asif said, India TV News reported.
Pakistan had initially found itself in the crosshairs of Middle Eastern politics as Saudi Arabia named it as part of its newly formed military alliance of Muslim countries allegedly meant to combat terrorism, without first getting its consent.
However, after initial ambiguity, the government had confirmed its participation in the alliance, but said that the scope of its participation would be defined after Riyadh shared the details of the coalition it was assembling.
