Pakistan will send troops to Saudi Arabia to join the coalition fighting Yemeni Houthi rebels, a senior government official said on Monday, joining several Gulf states, Sudan, Egypt and Morocco.
Largely Sunni Muslim Pakistan - a regional ally of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's main Sunni Muslim power - would join a Saudi-led military coalition conducting air strikes against Shi'ite Houthi forces.
The air strikes are targeting the rebels' southward advance on the port city of Aden, the last bastion of Saudi-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
"We have already pledged full support to Saudi Arabia in its operation against rebels and will join the coalition," the Pakistani official said.
A Pakistani team, to be led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and foreign policy chief Sartaj Aziz, had been due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Monday but delayed the trip at the request of the Saudis, the official told Reuters.
"Pakistan remains firmly committed to supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan," a statement from Sharif's media office said.
Pakistan has already had small demonstrations both for and against military intervention.
Sharif has long enjoyed close relations with the Saudi royal family. After his second term as prime minister was ended by a military coup in 1999, he was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia.
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