The participation of the Malaysian Armed Forces in a military exercise with Islamic countries led by Saudi Arabia was not targeted at extremists over there.

The Defence Ministry said the military exercise had long been held by Arab countries in the gulf, which included 20 countries.

"The armed forces was invited by Saudi Arabia to participate in the military exercise and took the opportunity to gain experience of training in a different environment.

"It is the first military exercise in the Gulf for them and will provide huge benefits and experiences useful in future," said the ministry in a written reply at Parliament today, to a question from Kamarudin Jaffar (PKR-Tumpat).

Kamarudin wanted to know the rationale of Malaysia joining the military exercise led by Saudi Arabia, claiming it was aimed at extremists.

The ministry said the military exercise from Feb 16 to March 10 this year was held at Hafar Al Batin and Tabuk in northern Saudi Arabia.

- Bernama