NO time frame has been set for Malaysian troops stationed in Saudi Arabia to return home following the new government’s decision to pull them out.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the Cabinet has decided that the Malaysian armed forces will only be involved in military operations under the United Nations (UN) banner.

“We will review the presence of our troops there and we have reiterated our long-standing stance that we should not be involved in international activities save for those under the UN,” Saifuddin told reporters in Shah Alam.

He declined to say when they were returning and how many personnel have been stationed in the middle eastern country.

The new Pakatan Harapan government has decided to reverse a contentious decision taken by the Barisan Nasional administration to station troops in Saudi Arabia as the gulf country started bombing its neighbour Yemen.

The BN administration however said the troops had been sent starting in 2015 to rescue Malaysian civilians.

Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu said the new administration would bring the troops home as the nation did “not want to be involved in a war with another Muslim nation”.

Since 2015, Riyadh and nine Arab nations have been engaged in air strikes assisting the Yemeni government in its fight against Houthi rebels and those loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Houthis – Shia Zaidi Muslims who comprise almost half of the Yemeni population – are working with Ali to topple the current Saudi-backed president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Saudi media has named Malaysia as one of the 34 countries working with Riyadh in “fighting terrorism”.

However, the Saudi-led coalition’s military attacks have been condemned by the UN as war crimes, after investigations revealed that most of the strikes in Yemen between March and October last year were carried out in civilian areas, killing 292 people, including children and women. – July 9, 2018.