ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday stressed the need for “greater unity and cooperation” among Islamic countries, in his meeting with the prayer leader of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, state-run media reported.
Sheikh Dr. Salah bin Muhammad Al-Budair arrived on a seven-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet top government officials and lead the Friday prayers at the Shah Faisal Mosque in the federal capital.
The Prophet’s Mosque, more popularly known as Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, holds profound historical and spiritual significance in Islam, having been built by the first Muslim community under the supervision of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It is also his last resting place, making the imams of this sacred mosque deeply respected across the Muslim world and widely viewed as embodiments of religious devotion and scholarly wisdom.
“President Asif Ali Zardari has underlined the need for greater unity and cooperation among Muslim countries to overcome the challenges being faced by the Muslim Ummah,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said in a report.
Zardari noted that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed excellent relations based on common faith, history, and brotherhood. The president also expressed satisfaction that relations between the two countries were growing stronger, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to further boosting bilateral ties.
“He urged the need for promoting cultural and people-to-people relations to bring the two brotherly countries further closer,” APP said.
Zardari praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, acknowledging the courage and wisdom with which he was spearheading reforms in Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has been frequently visited by the prayer leader of the Grand Mosque in Makkah in the past.
These visits, along with high-level official exchanges, have played a significant role in strengthening the relations between the two countries.
Saudi religious scholars, such as the prayer leaders of the two holy mosques, have fostered closer ties between the two countries, with many of them often taking a special interest in Islamic education and religious institutions in Pakistan.
Sheikh Al-Budair is also scheduled to meet prominent Pakistani scholars and visit universities during his stay in the South Asian country.
His stay in the country is also expected to further strengthen religious and cultural connections between the two nations.
Pakistan president meets Imam of Prophet’s Mosque, calls for ‘greater unity’ among Muslim states
https://arab.news/rcyg9
Pakistan president meets Imam of Prophet’s Mosque, calls for ‘greater unity’ among Muslim states
- Sheikh Al-Budair, prayer leader of the Prophet’s Mosque, arrived on a seven-day visit to Pakistan on Thursday
- He will lead the Friday prayers at Islamabad’s Faisal Mosque, meet top government functionaries in Pakistan
No casualties as blast derails Jaffar Express train in Pakistan’s south
- Passengers were stranded and railway staffers were clearing the track after blast, official says
- In March 2025, separatist militants hijacked the same train with hundreds of passengers aboard
QUETTA: A blast hit Jaffar Express and derailed four carriages of the passenger train in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Monday, officials said, with no casualties reported.
The blast occurred at the Abad railway station when the Peshawar-bound train was on its way to Sindh’s Sukkur city from Quetta, according to Pakistan Railways’ Quetta Division controller Muhammad Kashif.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, but passenger trains have often been targeted by Baloch separatist outfits in the restive Balochistan province that borders Sindh.
“Four bogies of the train were derailed due to the intensity of the explosion,” Kashif told Arab News. “No casualty was reported in the latest attack on passenger train.”
Another railway employee, who was aboard the train and requested anonymity, said the train was heading toward Sukkur from Jacobabad when they heard the powerful explosion, which derailed power van among four bogies.
“A small piece of the railway track has been destroyed,” he said, adding that passengers were now standing outside the train and railway staffers were busy clearing the track.
In March last year, fighters belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group had stormed Jaffar Express with hundreds of passengers on board and took them hostage. The military had rescued them after an hours-long operation that left 33 militants, 23 soldiers, three railway staff and five passengers dead.
The passenger train, which runs between Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta and Peshawar in the country’s northwest, had been targeted in at least four bomb attacks last year since the March hijacking, according to an Arab News tally.
Pakistan Railways says it has beefed up security arrangements for passenger trains in the province and increased the number of paramilitary troops on Jaffar Express since the hijacking in March, but militants have continued to target them in the restive region.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s southwestern province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the site of a decades-long insurgency waged by Baloch separatist groups who often attack security forces and foreigners, and kidnap government officials.
The separatists accuse the central government of stealing the region’s resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The Pakistani government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
