Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif confirmed that former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif will be the chief of 39-nation Islamic military coalition formed to combat terrorism.

Asif admitted that an agreement in this regard was finalized few days ago; however, the defense minister said he didn’t have much information at the moment about the details of the agreement, Pakistan's newspaper Dawn reported.

Asif said that the decision to appoint General Raheel, who retired in November 2016, was taken after taking the incumbent government into confidence.

"No, definitely our government's consent must have been part of this," he replied when asked if the decision was taken in Riyadh or Islamabad.

The defense minister said that any such assignment or posting requires proper clearance from the government and General Headquarters (GHQ) both and confirmed that the due process was followed before finalizing the agreement. He was, however, unaware of the exact details.

Source: MENA