ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will withdraw its troops from Saudi Arabia if Israel enters the gulf war the Islamabad daily Dawn said quoting sources close to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Nearly 10000 Pak troops have been deployed in Riyadh. Islamabad says its forces will defend the holy shrines in Saudi Arabia and would not be used in any act of aggression.
Sharif has been facing stiff reaction within the Islami Jamhoori Tttehad and the [JI-dominated senate following countrywide protests against the allied attacks on Iraq.
The daily quoting unnamed sources said some sections of the defence establishment were also having second thoughts about Pakistan’s physical involvement in the gulf war.
A Karachi report said Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia had been sucked into the war with Saudi government placing restrictions on their leaving their jobs or the country.
The report quoting relatives of Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia said passports work permits and driving licenses had been taken away following the outbreak of hostilities. It said Pak pilots air-traffic controllers and doctors among others had found themselves in frontline areas.
Meanwhile Pakistan and Iran have called for summoning an emergency meeting of the organisations of Islamic conference (OIC).
Article extracted from this publication >> February 1, 1991
