KARACHI: The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) Pakistan on Friday took out a rally in support of Saudi Arabia.

The rally that started from the Guru Mandir traffic intersection ended at Tibet Centre on M.A. Jinnah Road.

Traffic was diverted to other routes.

Participants also carried banners, inscribed with slogans in support of the kingdom.

Addressing the marchers, ASWJ central leader Allama Aurangzeb Farooqi said the unanimous resolution passed by the parliament over the Yemen conflict “did not reflect the sentiments of the Ummah”, but the visit of the chief of army staff General Raheel Sharif and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Riyadh reflected their support for the ASWJ stance about the conflict.

“Pakistan should not anger its old and sincere friend, Saudi Arabia, just to please Iran,” said the ASWJ leader, adding that Iran was not a friend of Pakistan but a friend of India.

He alleged that at the behest of Iran, India started creating a bad situation in Kashmir in order to compel Pakistan not to send its troops in support of Saudi Arabia to fight rebels in Yemen.

Maulana Amir Hamza of the JuD was of the opinion that the Yemen situation was created by America and Israel under a conspiracy to ‘encircle’ Saudi Arabia. He said there was no Shia-Sunni conflict in Yemen.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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