Egypt’s Defence Council Pledges Saudi Support but Never Mentions Troops

The council met at the presidential palace in Cairo, Middle East Monitor reported, with the parliament speaker, the prime minister, the defence, foreign and interior ministers, the intelligence chief and the armed forces commanders. The statement, issued through the State Information Service, pledged “all necessary and possible forms of support” to defend Saudi Arabia’s security and stability, its resources and territorial integrity, and Islamic holy sites.

Asharq Al-Awsat’s translation has the council declaring “complete alignment and full solidarity” with the kingdom.

The same statement carries a second decision. The council resolved to “continue and intensify political and diplomatic efforts” to reduce tensions in the region, Middle East Monitor reported.

The National reported that the statement did not mention troops. It quoted Mostafa Bakry, an MP and television host described as close to the state, who wrote on X that the council had approved sending forces on “a defensive mission”. The paper did not confirm that claim. The Gulf News headline read: “Egyptian troops to Saudi Arabia? Defence council backs mission, MP says”.

Speaking at a military academy graduation, Sisi said: “I call on parliament to convene an emergency session to authorise us to take action”, and added “if we are asked to do so”, The National reported. He also said: “I am not speaking about attacking or waging war. We are seeking only to defend.”

The National described the rule: before sending the army on a combat mission abroad, the president must consult the National Defence Council, and two thirds of MPs must approve. According to The National, the council has now met and the vote remains.

The paper added that the house has a pro-Sisi majority and that approval is expected, but that approval would not by itself mean troops are deployed.

Yahya al-Ra’i, speaker of the Houthi-run parliament in Sanaa, wrote on Saturday to Hisham Badawi, speaker of Egypt’s House of Representatives, according to Xinhua, which relied on the Houthi channel al-Masirah. The letter urged Egypt not to become militarily involved and to back a political settlement. It accused Riyadh of abandoning earlier de-escalation efforts. Xinhua quoted only the phrase “Yemen’s sovereignty”.

Al-Ra’i urged a “courageous stance” and warned, in the wording The National gave, that involvement “would pose a grave danger to its national security”.

Carmiel Mahony, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote on 16 October that Riyadh reportedly asked France, the UK, Pakistan and Egypt in September for more air-defence deployments as its interceptor stocks ran low, and that “none obliged”. She wrote that Pakistan had “publicly ruled out a deployment to Yemen”, and that Turkey’s parliament had not yet ratified the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, in an Atlantic Council dispatch.