Palestine 'regrets' envoy presence at Hafiz Saeed event

Walid Abu Ali (L)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088at the rally in Rawalpindi with JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, on Friday. Pic/Twitter

India on Saturday issued a strong demarche to Palestine on the issue of presence of its envoy to Pakistan at an event of JuD chief and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, terming it as "unacceptable". "The concerns were conveyed both in New Delhi to the Palestinian Ambassador and in Ramallah to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, State of Palestine," the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

It said the Palestinian side has conveyed "deep regrets" over the incident and assured India that they are taking serious cognisance of their ambassador's presence at this event. "They have said they will deal with this matter appropriately. It was also conveyed that Pale­stine highly values its relationship with India and stands with us in the war against terrorism. The government takes note of the assurances given by the Palestine side," the statement read.

Palestinian envoy to Pakistan Waleed Abu Ali reportedly attended a rally organized by the Difah-­e-Pakistan Council in Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on Friday. The Council is an association of religious and extremist groups in Pakistan, headed Hafiz Saeed. Adnan Abu Al Haija, Palestinian envoy to India, informed on Saturday that Walid Abu Ali has been recalled to his country. Asserting that Ali's action was "unacceptable" given the close and friendly ties between India and Palestine, Haija said, "The Palestine government has told Ali that he was not its envoy to Pakistan anymore. He has been given a couple of days to pack and return from Islamabad."

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