Karachi: Pakistan’s former army chief, General Raheel Sharif has been appointed as commander of the 34-nation Islamic military alliance against terrorism at its headquarters in Saudi capital Riyadh, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif confirmed yesterday.
In an interview with local Geo TV yesterday, Asif said that General Sharif who had retired in November last year as the chief of the country’s powerful army, a “couple of days ago” assumed his new assignment, for which he was touted since the inception of the alliance in December 2015.
“What I can tell you about this is that he (Gen Sharif) has been given this assignment with the consent and clearance from the (Pakistan) government and the army”, Asif said.
“He (Gen Sharif) cannot take this decision solely at his own. This needs clearance from the government and the army, which he has got," he went on to say. Asif, however, did not specifically clarify whether Gen. Sharif had been appointed as commander or military adviser of the alliance. The Saudi Arabia-led alliance that includes Qatar and other Gulf countries, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia and African countries, has been formed “to protect the Muslim nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organisations," mainly Daesh.
