LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Dr Tahirul Qadri has criticised the government for losing, what he called, a precious chance of back-door diplomacy for resolving Yemen crisis.

In a statement on Sunday, the PAT chief said that by convening parliament’s joint session the government made controversial the issue and “irritated” a brotherly Muslim country.

He alleged the “parliamentary intellectuals” added fuel to fire through their speeches to divide the country on sectarian lines instead of presenting any concrete solution to the crisis.

Referring to absence of a full-time foreign minister of the country, he said how such a government could have a robust foreign policy.

He lamented that careless statements earlier endangered the lives of Pakistanis in Yemen and now such comments were creating trouble for expats in the Gulf states as the country was losing fast its friends due to its “inept rulers”.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2015

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