Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia handed over to the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) the responsibility of commanding the Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150).

The handover ceremony was held on 18 January at the headquarters of the US Naval Base in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in the presence of the Commander of the RSNF, Vice Admiral Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Ghufaili; the Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the US Fifth Fleet and the Combined Naval Forces, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper; the Commander of the British Royal Task Group and Deputy Commander of the Combined Maritime Forces, Commodore Philip Dennis; the Commander of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force, Rear Admiral Mohammed Yousef Al-Asam, and a number of Ambassadors, Attachés and diplomatic corps accredited to Manama.

During the ceremony, Colonel James Byrne of the British Royal Navy was officially handed over the Command CTF-150 from Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Miteb Al-Mutairi from the RSNF, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

In another development, Saudi Arabia’s Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed Al-Ruwaili, arrived in the Kyrgyz Republic last Wednesday, accompanied by a delegation of senior officers of the Armed Forces, as part of an official visit that will last for several days.

The visit came in response to an invitation received by Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense, from Kyrgyz Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Baktybek Bekbolotov.

Al-Ruwaili and the Kyrgyz Minister of Defense held a meeting during which they reviewed bilateral cooperation between the two countries, especially in the defense and military fields, and discussed several issues of common interest.

The Saudi Chief of the General Staff visited the Military Institute of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic, accompanied by the Kyrgyz Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic, Major General Erlis Terdikbayev. Al-Ruwaili and the accompanying delegation were briefed on the institute and its facilities.

After that, Al-Ruwaili met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the General Committee for National Security in the Kyrgyz Republic Lieutenant General Kamchybek Tashiev.

During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations and ways to develop them to achieve common interests between the two countries.

He also visited the military unit 44549 and was briefed on the unit and its facilities.

The meetings were attended by the Saudi Ambassador to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Ibrahim bin Radi Al-Radi, and a number of senior officials from both sides.