THE deployment of Malaysian soldiers to Saudi Arabia under Ops Yaman 2 since 2015 has been discontinued on September 4, Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong said the decision was made after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government saw that it was not in line with Malaysia’s policy of neutrality.

‘’Originally, the Malaysian Armed Forces had made arrangements to evacuate Malaysians in Yemen, but the mission was changed to assisting the Arab military coalition against Yemen.

‘’This is opposed to the national foreign policy which does not interfere in the conflicts of other nations, and Malaysia’s involvement is only through the United Nations,’’ he said in an oral question and answer session when answering a question from Chang Lih Kang (PH-Tanjung Malim) who wanted to know the duties of Malaysian soldiers based in Riyadh.

Liew estimated that 700 Malaysians were still in Yemen. 

Answering to a supplementary question from Chang who wanted to know the role of the armed forces in operations in Yemen and the standard operating procedure (SOP) in other countries, Liew said Malaysian military personnel were not involved as combatants but gave logistic support to the Arab coalition. 

‘’In terms of SOP, I understand the previous minister of defence did not receive the approval of the cabinet for Ops Yaman 2,’’ he said.

Former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) confirmed Liew’s claims, saying that the matter was never raised in the cabinet.

Answering to supplementary question from Khairy on whether Malaysia had received a reciprocal undertaking from Riyadh in the form of the purchase of defence assets in appreciation of Malaysia’s support, Liew said he understood that there was no form of off-sets given to date.

‘’However, I will provide a written answer as I am not completely sure,’’ he added. – Bernama, December 3, 2018.