Cairo:
Saudi Arabia will host an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh on Saturday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said late Friday.
The kingdom was scheduled to host two extraordinary summits on Saturday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit and the Arab League summit. The ministry said the joint summit will replace two separate gatherings.
The joint meeting “will be held in response to the extraordinary circumstances occurring in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as the countries feel the need to unify efforts and come up with a unified collective position,” it said.
According to the statement, the decision was taken after consultation with the Saudi Arabian League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakkar arrived in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Friday to represent Pakistan at the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the situation in Gaza.
Following the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, Israel launched a brutal air campaign against Gaza in complete disregard of international law and mercilessly bombed hospitals, mosques, civilian housing and other structures.
So far, at least 11,000 civilians – at least 40 percent of whom are children – have been killed in sustained Israeli attacks.
Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of Riyadh, welcomed the prime minister upon his arrival at King Khalid International Airport earlier in the day. Pakistan Ambassador Ahmed Farooq and senior Saudi and Pakistani officials were also present.
During his three-day official visit, the Prime Minister will participate in an emergency meeting to be held in Riyadh, in which the Israeli aggression on Gaza will be discussed.
