Appointment of Pak general as Saudi-led coalition chief not appropriate: Pak analyst

In an interview with IRNA, Lieutenant General (retd) Talat Masood, said the whole coalition is controversial and heading an organization which does not have the full support of Muslim world is not a correct decision to be made.

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has confirmed the recent development that former army chief General (retired) Raheel Sharif was made the chief of Saudi led coalition.

Lieutenant General (retired) Talat Masood told IRNA that this coalition backs Saudi Arabia which is fighting war in Yemen and has its own interests. “There are many countries which are backing Saudi Arabia, but at the same time there are also countries which are opposing Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” he noted.

He said at the personal level, this appointment shows that General Raheel Sharif’s services during his 3-year tenure as Pakistan Army Chief had been lauded and the Saudis have appointed him on the basis of his performance as Pakistan's former army chief. But the fact is that this appointment has been done by approval of Pakistani government, so there seems to be sort of approval of military engagement against Yemen by this coalition.

“One should be very careful while engaging in military operation in Yemen specially when there is no unanimity in the Muslim world specially regarding Yemen conflict,” said the analyst.

He viewed the coalition cannot fulfill its targets without key regional countries rather it could become a coalition against each other actually.

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