The governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia have announced a new Military and Security Cooperation
Agreement, signed today in Jeddah by the Defence Secretary Sir
and the Saudi Crown
Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman.
Defence Secretary, Sir said: The security
of the GCC, of all Gulf Countries, is critical to UK security. I
am delighted to have signed today with HRH the Crown Prince of
Saudi Arabia a new Military and Security Cooperation Agreement
between our two countries; this Agreement further cements the
UK’s long standing relationship with our key Gulf partner.
The agreement will promote cooperation between our two countries
across the Defence and Security sectors, helping Saudi Arabia
better protect her national security, including
counter-terrorism, intelligence, training and education, medical
services and logistics.
The agreement was signed during a wider visit to the Middle East,
in which the Defence Secretary met British personnel serving in
Iraq. He also visited the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC)
at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where the UK is working closely
with US as the two largest contributors to the Coalition’s
military campaign.
During his time in Iraq, Sir Michael met with personnel from the
Mercian Regiment, Engineer Regiment, Intelligence Corps, and
Medical Regiments at Erbil and Taji where they have been involved
in training Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish Forces and Ninewah
police.
