Syria weighing whether to join Makkah pact: foreign minister

MANAMA, Bahrain - Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani announced on Saturday that Damascus is currently deliberating whether to join the Makkah defence alliance comprising Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The Foreign Minister made the announcement during the Manama Dialogue conference in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has been actively rallying support against the growing Houthi attacks, which recently culminated in a major strike that crippled Riyadh's international airport for two weeks this month. In August, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed the defence pact in Makkah, the holiest city of Islam. This pact stipulates that an attack on one nation is to be considered an attack on all three signatories. However, Pakistan and Turkey have not reported any instances of attacks on the Houthis.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron paid an unexpected visit to Riyadh, where he announced that France had dispatched troops to safeguard a vital Saudi oil terminal from Houthi aggression. In October, the United Kingdom government also disclosed its intention to deploy British fighter planes to bolster Saudi Arabia's defenses against the Houthis.