PUKHTUNKHWA TIMES: MUSLIM COUNTRIES FORCED BY SAUDI REGIME TO JOIN ITS MILITARY ALLIANCE

The recently announced Saudi-led so called ‘coalition against terrorism’ is facing collapse after being announced by the Riyadh regime with major Islamic nations such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia saying they were not consulted.

It has emerged that many countries were included in an alliance while they had never agreed to take part in the alliance.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an ‘Islamic military alliance’ with a mission to fight terrorism. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the coalition of 34 Muslim states would fight the scourge in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan and several other African and Persian Gulf states form the coalition. Saudi state television said the headquarters of the alliance will be based in Riyadh.

Pakistan surprised by Saudi move

Talking to journalists, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said he was surprised to read the news that Saudi Arabia had named Pakistan as part of the alliance.

He said he had asked the country’s ambassador in Riyadh to get a clarification from Saudi Arabia on the matter.

Another senior official also confirmed that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance.

This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has named Pakistan as part of its military alliances without Islamabad’s knowledge and consent. The Saudis earlier named Pakistan as part of the coalition that carried out operations in Yemen and a Pakistani flag was displayed at the alliance’s media centre. Pakistan later declined to join the Yemen war.

Malaysia will not join Saudi alliance

Malaysia, another Muslim country which was put by Riyadh in the list of the 34 participants, also denied taking part in the military alliance. Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told journalists that Kuala Lumpur will not join Riyadh, however it will continue to be part of the international fight against terrorism, the Rakyat Post reported.

Indonesia does not want a military alliance

Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population, said that it was approached by Saudi Arabia concerning anti-terrorism cooperation, however it needs details before considering to join a ‘military alliance.’

Armanatha Nasir, Foreign Ministry spokesman said it is “important for Indonesia to first have details before deciding to support” any military actions, he said.

However, Indonesian Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said later, as quoted by Reuters: "We don't want to join a military alliance."

Russia wants Saudis to give specifics

Russia has said it wants more specific details on Riyadh’s initiative. “We expect to receive more detailed information from the initiators of this process as well as we would want to know more about what was discussed in Paris yesterday,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.

Foreign ministers from the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey met in Paris on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis ahead of the talks in New York on Friday that would include Russia.

Russia has been conducting its own airstrikes targeting ISIS terrorists and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30. The strikes were launched at the formal request of Damascus. The Russian-led operation also involves coordinating its efforts with regional governments, including those of Syria, Iran and Iraq, which is known as the RSII coalition.

Lebanon joined Saudi coalition through phone call

In a statement on Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that he welcomes Lebanon joining the alliance.

Prior to Salam's statement, Al-Manar TV Website had a phone call with the Lebanese Minister of Labor, Sajaan Qazzi, who strongly denied being aware of the news, stating that, "I have communicated with the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, and he told me that he had no knowledge of the subject."

"We do not accept to join any religious alliances," said Qazzi, but soon the statement of the prime minister was issued to declare that Lebanon has joined the alliance via a "phone call," without turning to the constitutional frameworks!

According to the Lebanese constitution, Lebanon joining a military alliance requires the approval of the Council of Ministers of a treaty to be presented later before the Parliament to be duly approved.

Considering the foregoing it is quite clear that most if not all countries in the so called Saudi-anti terrorism alliance have been listed without prior consultation.

Russian officials doubt effectiveness of Saudi-led alliance

Elsewhere a Russian lawmaker has expressed doubts about the effectiveness of a newly-formed Saudi-led coalition allegedly set up to counter terrorism.

Konstantin Kosachyov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the parliament, expressed regret in message posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq are absent from the alliance.

Without the participation of Tehran and Baghdad, “in any case, it is impossible to speak about the coalition's ability to act and its efficiency,” Kosachyov stated.

“I would like to remind you that Russia is actively cooperating with these countries (Iran and Iraq), and our joint actions are admittedly more effective than those made earlier by another 'coalition' - a US-led one,” the Russian official said.

It is worth noting that there was no conference to lay the groundwork for the new alliance, and no resources have been committed to it by members, ranging from indebted Chad to war-torn Libya and Somalia.

The alliance appears to be a personal project of Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is seeking to bolster the monarchy’s status regionally.

Saudi Arabia claims to have formed an alliance to fight terrorism while it is a known fact that it is one of the main supporters of Takfiri terrorists groups especially ISIS in Syria and Iraq.