Egypt confirms its troops have been in Saudi Arabia for months

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty confirmed on November 9 that Egyptian forces have been deployed in Saudi Arabia for several months. He said Cairo is now reinforcing them at Riyadh's request. He spoke to France 24 in Paris, where he was attending a meeting of G7 foreign ministers. The National, which reported the interview on November 11, described it as official confirmation from Cairo that Egyptian troops and weapons are already on Saudi soil. AFP said the deployment had not previously been announced.

"We already have a military presence there at the request of our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia to help; and we are strengthening that," Abdelatty said, in The National's rendering of the interview. According to AFP, he described the reinforcement as defensive, including air defence "to defend the different sensitive sites in Saudi Arabia, including of course the holy sites and others." The National reads that as an allusion to the holy shrines in Makkah and Madinah. Abdelatty named no locations.

What Abdelatty said, and what he left out

AFP quoted Abdelatty on timing: "Our presence there (began) a few months ago after the attacks and aggressions on Saudi Arabia during the escalation with Iran." He gave no further details. Türkiye Today quoted him as saying "Saudi Arabia's security is Egypt's security." It also reported that he said Egyptian forces will not move into Yemen and that the support has no offensive aim.

The National said he did not say how many Egyptian soldiers were on Saudi soil or which weapons had been sent. It also said Saudi Arabia has not publicly commented on the deployment.

The kingdom is under pressure from the Houthis, the Iran-aligned movement that holds Sanaa. The National said Saudi Arabia has faced repeated Houthi drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, hitting airports, oil facilities and military sites. Reuters had reported on October 2 that Riyadh was preparing a new offensive against the Houthis.

After Egypt's parliament approved the move, a member of the Houthi politburo said it amounted to a declaration of war, AFP reported. Jordan News named him as Mohammed Ali al-Houthi and said he used the words "act of war". Abdelatty played this down. He said another senior Houthi official had said they "appreciate and welcome any role from Egypt to mediate and de-escalate", and added: "This is what we are trying to do, because there is no military solution."

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Observers are reading: the gap between the October vote and the months-old deployment, the unconfirmed force list, and what Riyadh's silence leaves to Cairo.

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Egypt has set two terms for its mission: it is defensive, and it will not enter Yemen. How far those terms hold is an open question. Since September, the Houthis have pressed along the Red Sea coast, as Crisis.Zone reported at the time. Al Jazeera reports that Yemeni government forces, backed by air support from the Saudi-led coalition, have been on the offensive since October 5.

Three markers will show where this goes. The first is any Saudi statement on the deployment. The second is an official Egyptian account of the force, its size and where it is based. The third is whether Egyptian lawmakers ask the government what they were told, and when. Until then, the only public confirmation of the deployment comes from one Egyptian minister, with details on its size and equipment attributed to unnamed sources.