Troops to be sent to Saudi Arabia, if necessary: FM

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali has assured Saudi Arabia that Bangladesh will send its troops to Mecca Haram Shareef and Madina Shareef if necessary.

He said this at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

The press conference was organized ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Saudi Arabia for Arabic Islamic American Historical Summit.

During the first Gulf War (August 2, 1990-February 28, 1991), Bangladesh had sent soldiers to Kuwait.

On December 14, 2015, Saudi Arabia had announced a 34-state military alliance to fight terrorism.

The 34 nations are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinians, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

On December 15, Bangladesh decided to join a Saudi Arabia-led 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism and militancy.