Religious and political parties have condemned the gruesome incident of firing at the Saudi Consulate vehicle in Karachi and the death of a diplomat Hassan Misfir al Qahtani. Terming the incident a conspiracy to strain the relations with the brotherly state, the leadership suggested that the incident could be avoided if the government had made proper security arrangements after the previous attack on Saudi Consulate.
Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmed Khan Chief of Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) Former Punjab Governor Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar have strongly condemned the firing at the Saudi Consulate car and expressed deep grief over the death of an official in the incident. In their statements issued here on Tuesday, they termed the incident an enemy conspiracy to strain the close brotherly relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and to damage Pakistan's image in the Arab world in the backdrop of Abbottabad incident. They noted that there had been an attack at the Saudi Consulate even in the past and the Pakistani government should have beefed up the security there. These leaders were, however, confident that the fraternal ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan would not be affected and the hostile forces would fail to create bad blood between the two Islamic states. They demanded provision of foolproof security to the Saudi citizens to ensure their full protection.
Rehmat Khan Wardag President of Tehrik-i-Istaqlal, while condemning the incident, said that it was a conspiracy to inflame sectarian violence in the country and strain relations with Saudi Arabia. Terming the incident a direct attack on Pak-Saudi friendship, he stressed upon unity among the nation to fail the nefarious designs of enemies.
MQM leader Iftikhar Randhawa said that the incident was a failed attempt to deprive Pakistan of her trusted friend. He said that the involvement of US hand in the incident could not be ruled out. He said that the nation would fail all conspiracies against Pak-Saudi friendship.