Pak analyst: Muslim world must react to Riyadh summit silence on Palestine cause

In an interview with IRNA, former Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand said the reason there was not a single word against Israel or for Palestine in the Riyadh conference was because Trump was attending the event and Saudi Arabia as the host of the summit did not want to make its American guest unhappy.

“There should have been strong condemnation of the settlement movement, and the treatment to the people living in the West Bank and Gaza which is a vast prison, but those problems were not heard at the conference. Nobody wanted to annoy the chief guest Trump,” said the analyst.

Former ambassador expressing his views said that the presence of the US President Donald Trump in the summit cannot solve problems in Muslims world.

“Terrorist organizations like Daesh were created when the US intervened militarily in Iraq, the US created space for Daesh to emerge so the rise of this organization is the consequence of the US military intervention in Iraq,” he pointed out.

The expert on international affairs said that Muslim countries instead of looking towards the US must come together to resolve their own problems.

“For example earlier Pakistan was trying to bridge the gap between Iran and Saudi Arabia to brining stability in the Muslims world, but unfortunately this is not happening right now. This constructive effort needs to be continued as Iran and Saudi Arabia are major powers of the Muslim world,” he regretted.

The expert went on to say that Pakistan was party to Riyadh summit, which was not a pro-Iran gathering. So now options for Pakistan are very limited and the only thing it can do is to try to bridge the gap between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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