Saudi foreign minister denies Musharraf ‘exit deal’

“Saudi Arabia will not interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” al-Faisal claimed on Tuesday.
 
Prior to the arrival of the top Saudi diplomat in Islamabad, media reports were increasingly pointing to a potential plan by al-Faisal to negotiate an “exit deal” for Musharraf.
 
The former Pakistani president has faced different charges, the latest being accusations of treason, since he returned to Pakistan in 2013 after nearly four years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai.
 
If found guilty in the treason case, 70-year-old Musharraf could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
 
His high-profile trial procedure has several times been disrupted due to alleged security threats. A last hearing was also halted on January 2 after Musharraf’s lawyers walked out of the court, complaining of security threats and harassment.
 
The Saudi foreign minister on Tuesday said his country seeks to enhance its economic activities in Pakistan.
 
Al-Faisal, who was speaking during a Tuesday meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad, said Saudi Arabia will ‘extend cooperation to Pakistan in energy and other sectors.’
 
During his visit, the Saudi foreign minister also met with Prime Minister Sharif, who said there was a need for Pakistan to start a “strategic relationship” with Saudi Arabia.
 
“There is a need to start a new era of strategic relationship between our two fraternal countries in order to further broaden and deepen the existing cordial bilateral relations,” Sharif said, the Express Tribune reported Tuesday.
 
    The visit by al-Faisal to Sunni-majority Pakistan, a first such trip since Prime Minister Sharif took office in June 2013, comes as analysts increasingly point to Saudi Arabia’s role in inciting anti-Shia violence throughout the region.
 
“Anti-Shia hate propaganda spread by Sunni religious figures sponsored by, or based in, Saudi Arabia and the [Persian] Gulf monarchies, is creating the ingredients for a sectarian civil war engulfing the entire Muslim world,” wrote Patrick Cockburn in an article on the Independent.
 
“The [anti-Shia] hate propaganda is often gory and calls openly for religious war,” Cockburn added.
 
Recently, there has also been a surge in violence against Shia Muslims in Pakistan.
 
In a latest incident on Monday, January 6, a bomb attack killed a teenager in a Shia-dominated area in northwest Pakistan.
 
The attack came two days after gunmen killed at least three Shia Muslims and injured four others in an attack in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.
 
The Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the government in Islamabad must take firmer action against the perpetrators of the anti-Shia violence.