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Pakistan says no decision made to send troops to Saudi Arabia

Xinhua, March 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said Monday that no decision has been taken to send troops to Saudi Arabia.

The remarks came shortly after a western news agency reported that Pakistan will send troops to Saudi Arabia to join the coalition against Yemen's Houthi rebels. "Pakistan has not taken any decision so far to send troops to Saudi Arabia," the minister said in a statement.

He also said that Pakistan will not become part of the Arab coalition that is involved in strikes in Yemen.

A top adviser also dismissed as false and misleading that Pakistani fighter jets are taking part in the Yemen airstrikes. "No Pakistani aircraft has gone out of Pakistani airspace," Tariq Fatemi, special assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, said.

The government on Monday decided that Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif"would be contacting the leadership of brotherly countries" about the crisis in the Middle East, officials said.

Sharif presided over a high-level meeting to undertake a comprehensive review of the prevailing situation in the Middle East, the PM office said.

Key ministers and services chiefs attended the meeting which was the third high-level consultation since Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched military strikes in Yemen.

"Pakistan calls upon the United Nations, OIC, and the international community to play a constructive role in finding a political solution of the crisis," the meeting concluded.

Pakistan has planned to send a high-level delegation to Saudi Arabia to assess the situation arising out of the airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

Section of the Pakistani media has reported that the delegation is likely to travel to the kingdom on Tuesday.

The defense minister will lead the delegation that will be comprised of the top security adviser Sartaj Aziz and senior military officials. Endi