ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Foreign Office, on Thursday, released a statement lauding Saudi Arabia’s announcement to initiate indictment proceedings against those responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
According to the statement, “Pakistan notes with appreciation the announcement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to initiate the process of indictment of those responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
The Saudi government on Thursday called for the death penalty against five people accused of murdering the journalist inside the Kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2. The journalist, who was a Washington Post contributor, was killed by lethal injection after a struggle, and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, Shalaan Al-Shalaan, deputy public prosecutor and spokesman, told reporters in Riyadh on Thursday.
Khashoggi’s body parts were then handed over to a local Turkish agent outside the consulate grounds, the spokesman said as he outlined the public prosecutor’s findings in the investigation.
He added that a sketch of the agent has been prepared and will be handed over to the Turkish authorities.
Islamabad lauded the efforts being made by Riyadh, as have been mutually reaffirmed by both Saudi Arabia and Turkey. “Commencement of this process demonstrates the resolve and commitment of the Saudi authorities to hold the culprits and their associates to account,” said the FO statement.
Islamabad lauds Riyadh’s resolve to initiate proceedings against Khashoggi murder culprits
Islamabad lauds Riyadh’s resolve to initiate proceedings against Khashoggi murder culprits
- Saudi government called for the death penalty against five people accused of murdering the journalist
- Announcement has been mutually reaffirmed by both Saudi Arabia and Turkey
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
