KOTA TINGGI: Malaysia should not deploy peacekeeping troops into Yemen while the country remains embroiled in an active conflict, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister added United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces were generally deployed after parties involved in a conflict had agreed to a peace arrangement, with the troops tasked with ensuring that the terms of the agreement were respected.
“What is happening now is a conflict, a war. The UN has never sent troops to become involved in a war,” he said in a press conference after attending a Maulidur Rasul celebration held at Felda Air Tawar 2 here on Sunday (Sept 20).
Mohamed Khaled was responding to a question on whether Malaysia should consider sending personnel to Yemen following the latest escalation in fighting there.
He said the situation in Yemen was different from Malaysia’s peacekeeping role in Lebanon, where troops serve under a peacekeeping mandate.
“In Lebanon, our peacekeepers are there to ensure that the conditions of the peace agreement are complied with,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled added deploying troops into the middle of an ongoing war could expose them to significant risks.
“If you enter in the middle of a war, there will be casualties. Then when the coffins come home, people will certainly be angry,” he said.
He stressed that Malaysia would have to follow the UN’s decision on whether any peacekeeping mission should be established.
The United Nations has reported intensified fighting along Yemen’s west coast and an increasingly volatile situation around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The UN special envoy for Yemen has also called on the parties to cease hostilities and return to political negotiations amid the latest escalation.
Malaysia has long participated in UN peacekeeping missions, including in Lebanon, where the government has previously said its personnel operate under a UN mandate.
