CAIRO: Egypt has had a military presence in Saudi Arabia for months, Cairo’s top diplomat has said, two weeks after its parliament authorised helping defend the kingdom from Houthi attacks.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt was now “strengthening” the deployment, which had not previously been announced.
“We have already military presence there upon request from our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia,” Abdelatty said in an interview with France24 aired on Monday, adding: “We are strengthening that.”
Last month, Egypt’s parliament approved President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s request to send military support to Saudi Arabia, which is under regular attack from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
It wasn’t clear whether lawmakers knew of the existing military presence. At the time, lawmakers told AFP they had not received details about the scale or size of the planned deployment.
“Our presence there (began) a few months ago after the attacks and aggressions on Saudi Arabia during the escalation with Iran,” Abdelatty said, without giving further details.
He said Egypt’s coming deployment was for “defensive objectives”, including “air defence capabilities to defend the different sensitive sites in Saudi Arabia, including of course the holy sites and others.”
Makkah and Madinah, Islam’s holiest cities, are in western Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities have accused the Houthis of attacks in the area, which they deny.
Abdelatty, who was speaking in Paris during a visit for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, also downplayed a comment from a member of the Houthi politburo who, after Egypt’s parliamentary approval, said the move was a declaration of war.
“If you recall, another senior Houthi official said (that they) appreciate and welcome any role from Egypt to mediate and de-escalate. This is what we are trying to do, because there is no military solution.”
Riyadh – one of Cairo’s closest allies and a key financial backer of Sisi’s administration – has not publicly commented on Egypt’s potential involvement.
Facing near-daily attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, Saudi Arabia has received military support from allies including the United Kingdom, which has pledged fighter jets, and France, which has said it would help defend oil infrastructure.