Saturday, Mar 25, 2017

Islamabad: Pakistan’s former army chief, retired General Raheel Sharif, has been allowed by the government to assume command of a Saudi Arabia-sponsored military alliance of 39 Muslim states to combat terrorism, a local television news channel reported on Saturday.

According to Geo News, Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Asif made the disclosure during its programme titled ‘jirga’ to be aired on Sunday night.

A report on the channel’s website quoted the defence minister as saying the government agreed to give a no-objection certificate to the former army chief to take up the coalition command after receiving a formal request from the Saudi government.

The minister said that official documentation in this regard had not been done but the government had agreed in principle.

Khwaja Asif said during his visit to Saudi Arabia for Umrah earlier this year he had met officials of the Saudi government.

The advisory board of defence ministers of member countries of the alliance will meet in May; he said adding that the structure of the alliance had not been decided so far. “When General Raheel Sharif joins he will define a structure,” Khwaja Asif said.

The formation of the alliance was announced by Saudi Arabia in December 2015. The headquarters of the military alliance is located in Riyadh.

On January 11, Asif had told the Pakistani Senate that Raheel Sharif would be required to seek a no-objection certificate from the government before accepting a position in the military alliance.

“The rules laid down by the Ministry of Defence for post-retirement assignments of army officers will be applicable equally to Raheel Sharif,” Asif had said in the Senate session.

By Mohsin Ali Correspondent

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