Sudan’s SAF to participate in Islamic military alliance meeting
March 8, 2016 ‘KHARTOUM) – Sudanese army will take part in a meeting of the Saudi-led Islamic alliance against terrorism by the end of March as, as troops from the state members are concluding their first joint military drills on Thursday.
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami Tuesday announced on the participation of Sudanese military in the first meeting of the chiefs of staff of the IMAFT armies which will take place at the alliance headquarters in Saudi Arabia by the end of March.
The Sudanese military spokesperson didn’t elaborate on the agenda of the meeting but pointed to the participation of President Omer al-Bashir at the closing ceremony of the ‘Thunder of the North’ military exercise which taking place since two weeks in Saudi Arabia.
Bashir’s participation at the closing ceremony confirms Sudan’s belief in the need for a joint Arab and Muslim action in all the issues of strategic dimension to ensure security and stability in the region and to deter any plan targeting the Arab and Islamic world, al-Shami further said.
The Sudanese defence minister, Awad Ibn Ouf and SAF chief of staff Emad al-Din Mustafa Adawy will fly with President al-Bashir to attend the closing ceremony.
Chadian President Idriss Deby will also travel from Khartoum to Saudi Arabia for the same ceremony. Chad, which is involved in military operations against Jihadists groups in western Africa, is a IMAFT member.
Last February, Saudi Arabia expressed readiness to send troops to fight Islamic State in Syria in an international operation involving another IMAFT member, Turkey which is also a NATO member.
The Islamic alliance does not include two ISIS front lines countries: Syria and Iraq.
The IMAFT is also seen as part of the Saudi military doctrine aiming to build a Sunni military coalition to counter the growing Iran-led Shiite influence in the region.
(ST)
