Summary PTI chief Imran Khan spoke out on the issue on Friday.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk / AFP) – In response to Saudi Arabia’s request to Pakistan seeking assistance in Yemen operation, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Friday said that Pakistan should play lead role in peace talks rather than joining the Gulf-led operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In a message posted on Twitter, Khan said Pakistan has already suffered a lot by participating in war of the other countries.
On going in for US-Saudi alliance to fight in Yemen: Has Pakistan not suffered enough by participating in others wars? 1/3
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 27, 2015
The PTI chief also gave a suggestion:
2/3 Pakistan should be playing a lead role in negotiating/helping in peace talks rather than becoming a participant in the war.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 27, 2015
Khan expressed that Pakistan is already plagued by sectarian issues:
3/3 We already have a huge sectarian issue in Pakistan and our country has suffered enough in the last 10 yrs.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 27, 2015
On Thursday, Advisor to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz confirmed that top Saudi officials had contacted the Pakistani leadership requesting it to join the Yemen operation.
A decision has not yet been taken, Aziz said.
Earlier, foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam during the weekly media briefing in Islamabad said that Saudi Arabia had contacted Pakistan on an emergency basis and extended the invitation to join the operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
She did not specify the details of the request made by Saudi Arabia to Pakistan but said that the matter was being examined.
Aslam said that the Pakistani mission in Yemen has been placed on alert and has been asked to keep in touch with the Pakistan community residing there.
Although Pakistani authorities have given a hint of cooperation, they told the Saudis that a final decision would be taken after consulting the military, she added.
Saudi Arabia and Gulf region allies launched military operations including airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday to counter the Shia Houthis besieging the southern city of Aden.
Gulf broadcaster al-Arabiya TV reported that Saudi Arabia was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operations and that allies Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan were ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen.
These latest developments follow a southward advance by Houthi militants, who took control of the capital Sanaa in September and seized the central city of Taiz last week as they move closer to the new southern base of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
