KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Bera Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob officially begins work as defence minister today.

He arrived at Dataran Wisma Pertahanan, at Jalan Padang Tembak here, at 9.30am and was greeted by Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz, who also started work today.

Also present were the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Muez Abd Aziz and Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Affendi Buang and commanders of all three wings of the armed forces.

Ismail Sabri, who is also Senior Minister, then took the salute of the guard of honour mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment, led by Major  Mohd Izham Ahmad Rashidi. 

Ismail Sabri and Ikmal Hisham took their oath as Defence Minister and Deputy Defence Minister, respectively, before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Melawati in Putrajaya last Tuesday. — Bernama