Egypt approves military support for KSA

Two-thirds of chamber back measure

CAIRO:

Parliament authorised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday to take "all necessary measures" to help Saudi Arabia defend itself - a move that could push Cairo more directly into the conflict between the kingdom and Yemen's Iran-allied Houthis.

Sisi had asked parliament to approve military support for Egypt's Gulf Arab ally and the world's biggest oil exporter if Riyadh requested help in fighting the Houthis, whose advances also threaten the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait - southern gateway to the Red Sea and Egypt's Suez Canal.

At least two-thirds of the chamber backed the measure, according to an official parliamentary statement.

Parliament voted in closed session without publishing the tally, and no formal Saudi request for Egyptian troops has been announced.

The statement did not specify what kind of support Egypt would provide. Taher al-Khouly, deputy head of parliament's legislative committee, told Reuters that Egypt would send forces to Saudi Arabia in coordination between the two countries and at Saudi Arabia's request.

Several opposition groups opposed or declined to back the move. The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of opposition parties, rejected Egyptian military involvement in a regional war and said last week that Cairo's role should focus on mediation.

The Egyptian Social Democratic Party had said its lawmakers would abstain, citing a lack of information on the mission's aims, duration and cost, while saying it remained supportive of Saudi Arabia.

Egypt has frequently condemned Iranian and Iranian-backed attacks on Gulf countries, but it has not publicly engaged in direct combat or joined the Mecca mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey,signed in August.

Ministers from the pact's member countries held an emergency meeting in Riyadh earlier this month and agreed to ensure the "rapid deployment" of forces and military capabilities in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan approved the agreement last week, while Turkey's parliament began ratifying it last week.

Top officials from the three Mecca pact countries were meeting Iranian leaders in Tehran on Monday in a push to de-escalate the conflict.

Britain said last week it would deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets on missions to help protect Saudi cities and critical infrastructure from Houthi aerial attacks.

The Cairo parliament had postponed the vote last week as Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and intelligence chief Hassan Rashad travelled to Riyadh to deliver a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. In it, Sisi said Egypt's support would be limited to defending Saudi territory and borders rather than attacking Yemen.

Abdelatty said afterwards that Cairo advocated exploring "every opportunity" to resolve the Yemen conflict diplomatically.

Essam Farid, the speaker of the Senate, said Egypt's position was "purely defensive" and aimed at defending Saudi territory, borders, sovereignty and holy sites against external attack. He said that it would not extend to an attack on Yemen and that Egypt stands with its brothers as "a shield that protects, not a sword that attacks".

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous state with one of the region's largest militaries, joined the Saudi-led coalition in an earlier phase of Yemen's war, in March 2015.

At that time it acted mainly as a naval partner, sending warships to secure Red Sea shipping lanes. It also deployed around 800 ground troops but played only a limited combat role.