ISLAMABAD: Palestine on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Pakistan who attended a pro-Palestinian rally alongside Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) Emir Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a statement issued by its foreign ministry said. Palestinian Ambassador Walid Abu Ali on Friday shared the stage with the JuD chief at the Tuhaffaz-i-Baitul Muqaddas Conference in Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, organised by the Difa-i-Pakistan Council (DPC). Saeed, who was last month set free from a 300-day-long house arrest, faces terrorism charges from India and US. “… the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates considered the participation of our ambassador in Pakistan in a mass rally in solidarity with Jerusalem, held […] in the presence of individuals accused of supporting terrorism is an unintended mistake, but not justified,” said the foreign ministry’s statement, without naming Saeed. The ministry said the decision to recall the envoy to Pakistan immediately had come “under direct instructions of the President of the State of Palestine”.
Published in Daily Times, December 31st 2017.
