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Pakistan's ex-army chief appointed head of 39 Islamic countries

Xinhua, January 7, 2017 Adjust font size:

Pakistan's former army chief, General (retd) Raheel Sharif has been appointed as head of the 39 Islamic countries, Defence Minister Khwaja Asif has said.

Saudi Arabia announced last year in December the formation of the Islamic military alliance to combat terrorism.

The alliance will perform the duty to protect the nations from the evils of all armed groups and terrorist organizations -- whatever their doctrine or title -- which spread killing and corruption in the world and are designed to terrorize the innocent, Saudi Press Agency had earlier quoted a statement as saying about the objectives of the alliance.

Khwaja Asif told Geo television on Friday that a agreement on Raheel Sharif's appointment was reached few days ago. He however said no details of the agreement are available.

Raheel Sharif who retired as Pakistan Army Chief in November 2016 after completing his three-year term. Pakistani army conducted major operations against the armed groups under Raheel Sharif.

The coalition was initially consisted of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Palestine, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen. Endit