Brigadier General Ahmad Al-Assiri
Brussels- Brigadier General Ahmad Al-Assiri, the Military Advisor to the Minister of Defense, asserted the Kingdom’s readiness to send ground troops to fight ISIS, as soon as the international coalition gives the green light, and that the Kingdom’s decision is “irreversible.”
This came in remarks made by Brig. Gen. Al-Assiri to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting of the international coalition against ISIS which was held at the headquarters of NATO in Brussels on Thursday.
Brig. Al-Assiri pointed out that the presence of the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, is a part of timetabled meetings of the ministers of defense of the international coalition member states, to fight ISIS.
Al-Assiri said that the details will be discussed by the committees during upcoming meetings in order to determine the method of participation, the mechanism and the forces mass. He pointed out that this comes within the framework of the International Coalition againstISIS and the Islamic military alliance to fight terrorism, which will be led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Assiri added that the kingdom’s initiative to send ground troops as part of the International Coalition againstISIS and the military operations, which the kingdom will participate in, were discussed; explaining that the Deputy Crown Prince gave the US side a detailed idea on the Islamic Military Alliance and its intellectual, financial, media and military aspects.
When he was asked about the willingness of the Islamic Military Alliance to fight terrorism, Brigadier Al-Assiri said that there is a road map for the alliance and the diplomatic efforts have been completed. He pointed out that efforts are currently carried out to establish a coordinating center and to hold a conference of the chiefs of staff of participating States to discuss the concept of the Islamic military alliance.
He added that a meeting for the defense ministers to put the final touches to this alliance will be held at the end of March or at the beginning of April.