The State of Palestine Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Mahmoud Al-Zahar called on Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro on Thursday and discussed regional and international situation with particular reference to the Middle East.
Soomro said the cause of Palestinian people was very close to the hearts of Pakistani people, adding not only Quaid-e-Azam but also all the successive leadership supported that just cause.
Lauding the Palestinian struggle, the Senate Chairman pointed out that Pakistan had always been in the forefront supporting the cause of the Palestinians, wanted a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Arab territories and stood for an independent Palestinian State. The Senate Chairman paid tributes to the people of Palestine and observed that the Palestinians were very hard working and resilient.
Expressing full support to the demand of the Palestinian people for a free homeland, he hoped that internal community would support their just cause. Dr Mahmoud Al-Zahar thanked the government and people of Pakistan for the continued support to the Palestinian cause. He informed the Chairman that he had very useful talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other Pakistani leaders.
He said that he was very delighted to witness the Senate Session wherein the Members were expressing views on national issues, irrespective of their political affiliation.
The Members of the Palestinian delegation told the Senate Chairman that a wrong impression had been created by the vested interests through the media the world over that Hamas and Al-Fatah were on the collision course.
Earlier, the Palestinian Foreign Minister and the Members of his delegation held a meeting with a group of Senators belonging to the opposition parties and discussed issues relating to bilateral co-operation and the Middle East situation.
The group of legislators included senators Saadia Abbasi, Azam Swati, Rehmat Ullah Kakar, Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, Raza Mohammad Raza and Professor Muhammad Ibrahim.