C
commander
Guest
Nawaz under Saudi pressure
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=198012
Saturday, September 12, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Credible reports say PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has not received the kind of high profile protocol in Saudi Arabia that he used to get in the past.
The reason, these reports say, is Sharifs reluctance to step back from his demand for a treason trial of General Pervez Musharraf, who too recently visited Riyadh as guest of the Saudi king.
PML-N spokesman and leader Pervaiz Rasheed while talking to The News, however, said that it is a matter of record that the Saudi government only gives protocol to the Pakistani leaders when they visit Saudi Arabia for political purposes.
Whenever any Pakistani leader visits Saudi Arabia specifically for worship, routine protocol is not given, Pervaiz Rasheed said, adding: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif regularly visits Saudi Arabia in the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan and in the past on every such occasion, he (Nawaz) was given the same protocol as he was given during the current visit.
Pervaiz said that record could be checked for verification of this fact. He explained that it was also because of religious traditions that when any leader visits the holy land to perform religious duties, he basically is considered the guest of Allah Almighty and not of the Saudi government.
Reports from Jeddah indicated that the PML-N chief was under pressure from the Saudi royal family to let go of Musharraf and not to insist on his trial under Article 6.
The same subtle message was conveyed to Musharraf when he visited Saudi Arabia recently. Some reports had then claimed that Musharraf had not been given any guarantees by the Saudis that he would never be tried and that he had returned empty-handed from Riyadh.
A source close to Saudi embassy in Islamabad told The News that Saudi Arabia does not interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan. He said Saudi Arabia only plays its positive role when its help was sought by Pakistanis. He said interests of the people of Pakistan were supreme for Saudi Arabia.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=198012
Saturday, September 12, 2009
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Credible reports say PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has not received the kind of high profile protocol in Saudi Arabia that he used to get in the past.
The reason, these reports say, is Sharifs reluctance to step back from his demand for a treason trial of General Pervez Musharraf, who too recently visited Riyadh as guest of the Saudi king.
PML-N spokesman and leader Pervaiz Rasheed while talking to The News, however, said that it is a matter of record that the Saudi government only gives protocol to the Pakistani leaders when they visit Saudi Arabia for political purposes.
Whenever any Pakistani leader visits Saudi Arabia specifically for worship, routine protocol is not given, Pervaiz Rasheed said, adding: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif regularly visits Saudi Arabia in the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan and in the past on every such occasion, he (Nawaz) was given the same protocol as he was given during the current visit.
Pervaiz said that record could be checked for verification of this fact. He explained that it was also because of religious traditions that when any leader visits the holy land to perform religious duties, he basically is considered the guest of Allah Almighty and not of the Saudi government.
Reports from Jeddah indicated that the PML-N chief was under pressure from the Saudi royal family to let go of Musharraf and not to insist on his trial under Article 6.
The same subtle message was conveyed to Musharraf when he visited Saudi Arabia recently. Some reports had then claimed that Musharraf had not been given any guarantees by the Saudis that he would never be tried and that he had returned empty-handed from Riyadh.
A source close to Saudi embassy in Islamabad told The News that Saudi Arabia does not interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan. He said Saudi Arabia only plays its positive role when its help was sought by Pakistanis. He said interests of the people of Pakistan were supreme for Saudi Arabia.
