Palestine denies reports of its envoy to Pakistan being reinstated

Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied reports that Walid Abu Ali, its former ambassador to Pakistan, was reinstated after being recalled for attending a rally where he shared a stage with 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

"We deny this information. Our ambassador in Pakistan is in Palestine and our position was declared by our official statement which we have published last week," Palestinian Foreign Ministry clarified.

"We don't know from where you got this information about (the) Palestine Ambassdor to Pakistan being reinstated. As per our knowledge he is very much in Palestine as of now," the ministry told the news agency ANI.

Earlier in the day, Pakistani media outlets reported that Palestine has reinstated its ambassador to Pakistan Walid Abu Ali after he was recalled for attending an event of JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, also a UN-designated terrorist.

Geo News quoted the Pakistan Ulema Council's (PUC) chairman, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, as saying he'd asked Palestine to reinstate Ali, and that the envoy would be back on duty in Pakistan on Wednesday.

On December 30, Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had withdrawn Ali from Pakistan after India lodged a strong protest over his appaearance at a rally with Hafiz Saeed in Rawalpindi, terming it "unacceptable". India issued a strongly worded condemnation after Ali attended the Difa-e-Pakistan rally in Rawalpindi. The Modi government summoned Palestine's envoy to India.

OneIndia News