Pakistan to stay neutral after Arab world cut ties with Qatar

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan has on Tuesday decided to stay neutral following the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

On Monday, the Arab world's strongest powers cut ties with Qatar over alleged support for militants and Iran, re-opening a festering wound two weeks after US President Donald Trump's demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut relations with Qatar in a coordinated move. Yemen, Libya's eastern-based government and the Maldives joined in later.

Qatar denounced the move as based on lies about it supporting militants. It has often been accused of being a funding source for militants, as has Saudi Arabia.

Sources said that Pakistan is keeping an eye on the current situation in the Arab world, however, it has been decided that Islamabad will stay neutral on the issue.

One Pakistani official spoke on condition of anonymity that Pakistan has friendly ties with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Pakistan’s desires early resolution of the issue.

Diplomatic sources said that Pakistan can play the role of a mediator for the resolution of the dispute on the request of the any of the country.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia had accused Qatar of backing militant groups and broadcasting their ideology, an apparent reference to Qatar's influential state-owned satellite channel al Jazeera. "(Qatar) embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS (Islamic State) and al-Qaeda," Saudi state news agency SPA said.

It accused Qatar of supporting what it described as Iranian-backed militants in its restive and largely Shia Muslim-populated Eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain. Qatar was also expelled from the Saudi-led coalition fighting a war in Yemen.