Egypt’s Sisi seeks authorisation for defence assistance to Saudi Arabia

Egyptian president pledges ‘any measure’ to help defend Saudi Arabia ‘if it is requested of us’. Save Share Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for an emergency parliamentary session to authorise him to approve any requests from Saudi Arabia for defence assistance, if Riyadh were to ask. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Egyptian Military Academy on Saturday, el-Sisi emphasised Cairo’s readiness to back the kingdom. Egypt will “carry out any measure to protect” Saudi Arabia “in accordance with the directives of His Majesty King Salman and the directives of the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman”, he said. “I know that this matter requires the approval of the Egyptian parliament, and I hope that parliament will convene in an emergency session to give us this authorisation, if it is requested of us,” he said. “I am not speaking in order for us to fight anyone or attack anyone. I am speaking only for defence.” The request follows a barrage ofattackson the kingdom from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, including airports and oil facilities. Recent Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia have mainly targeted key infrastructure on the outskirts of the capital, Riyadh, but they appear to be edging closer to the city centre. Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport earlier this month killed 14 people and wounded more than 300. Houthi attacks have also been reported on other airports, including Dammam, Abha, Jazan and Najran. Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government launched a full-scalemilitary campaignagainst the Houthis this month to recapture territory seized by them. El-Sisi had backed Saudi calls for secure and unhindered navigation in the Red Sea in ameetingwith the Saudi Crown Prince, known as MBS, in Cairo last month. A statement from the Egyptian presidency then said that “the security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states is an integral part of Egypt’s national security”. That meeting came just days after the Houthis seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast, gaining significant control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the southern gateway to the Suez Canal. Saudi Arabia already has a defence pact with Pakistan and Turkiye, known as the Mecca Alliance for Defence, which wassignedin August. Earlier this month, the three countries agreed toactivate“deterrence measures” under the pact and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthis....