Islamabad close to decision on Yemen military deployment

Pakistan will agree to a Saudi request for military help for its campaign against Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen and is "close to deciding on how many resources will be deployed", a Pakistani cabinet minister said on Monday.

The minister, who declined to be named, spoke to the Financial Times hours after parliament began debating a military commitment that could further divide the Sunni and Shia Muslim communities in nuclear-armed Pakistan. Sunni Saudi Arabia has strong ties with Pakistan, which is about 80 per cent Sunni Muslim.

Khawaja Mohammad Asif, defence minister, had earlier told parliament: "Saudi Arabia has asked for combat planes, warships and soldiers." He did not say if Pakistan would agree or what the extent of any deployments might be.

In recent days, Pakistani leaders have said repeatedly they are determined to defend Saudi's "territorial integrity". Officials have also spoken of protecting the sanctity of Islam - Saudi being the birthplace of the religion practised by more than 95 per cent of Pakistanis.

However, any troop deployment risks further sharpening the divisions between Pakistan's Sunni Muslims, including many who are sympathetic to Saudi, and the minority Shia, who tend to look to predominantly Shia Iran for spiritual guidance and are sympathetic to the Houthi rebels.

The government of Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister, has hesitated to announce any decision publicly and launched the parliamentary debate on Monday in an attempt to build consensus between different political factions. But the cabinet minister who spoke to the FT said: "There is already a decision to lend our defence support to Saudi Arabia. We are still trying to decide how much to deploy."

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"In the past year, Pakistan deserves to be given credit for having shown a sense of national unity in fighting the Taliban," said one western official. "This is hardly the time for Pakistanis as a nation to show disunity . . . I think the risk in making this happen is considerable."

Hasan Askari Rizvi, a commentator on politics and security affairs, said there could be short-term gains for Pakistan, including Saudi financial support for the enfeebled Pakistani economy.

But he added: "Pakistan needs to continue to go through a healing process where divisions [between Shias and Sunnis] are addressed. Clearly, the long-term challenge cannot be overlooked".

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