JAKARTA: President Mamnoon Hussain has said that the Pakistani government and people always stood steadfastly with their Palestinian brethren for their just cause and would continue to extend diplomatic and moral support to them.
In a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of fifth extraordinary meeting of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday, President Mamnoon called for an independent state of Palestine and end to all illegal settlements of Israel. President Mamnoon termed Israel’s policy of grabbing land for settlement as an “ugly, immoral and illegal act” and added that the government and people of Pakistan follow the events in the Middle East with great concern. He said that Pakistan supported the admission of Palestine to United Nations as full member. He said that besides Palestinians, the people of Kashmir had long been suffering at the hands occupation forces and being denied the right to self-determination. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked President Mamnoon for Pakistan’s resolute support for Palestine and said that Pakistan could play an important role in convincing the international community for settlement of Palestinian issue.
Meanwhile, extraordinary meeting of OIC has vowed to continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support for the just resolution of Palestine dispute. This was stated in a joint communiqué issued after the two-day conference of the heads of OIC states in Jakarta. Reiterating support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the communiqué condemned the persecution and maltreatment of the Palestinian people at the hands of Israeli forces.
