YEMEN-SECURITY/PAKISTAN Pakistan PM says Iran should be involved in Yemen debate

Record ID: 160567

  • Title: YEMEN-SECURITY/PAKISTAN Pakistan PM says Iran should be involved in Yemen debate
  • Date: 7th April 2015
  • Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (APRIL 7, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT HOUSE PAKISTANI FLAG VARIOUS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS ARRIVING FOR SPECIAL SESSION TO DISCUSS YEMEN CRISIS
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4FSMHBSATJKXWAC5241DVFRZM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT IS PART MUTE
    Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on Tuesday (April 7) for Iran to be involved in a debate on security in Yemen as parliament resumed discussion on whether Pakistan should join a Saudi-led campaign against Iran-allied Yemeni forces.
    Sharif addressed parliament a day after the defence minister revealed Saudi wanted Pakistani warplanes, warships and soldiers. Not a single MP has spoken in favour of sending troops.
    Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's main Sunni Muslim power, has asked Sunni-majority Pakistan to join a Saudi-led military coalition that began conducting air strikes last month against largely Shi'ite Houthi forces in Yemen.
    Pakistani intervention would anger Shi'ite power Iran, which shares a long and porous border in a region roiling with its own separatist insurgency.
    The Iranian foreign minister visits Pakistan on Wednesday (April 8) and discussions on Yemen are expected to dominate the meeting. Sharif said he welcomed Iranian input.
    "Iran should also think about its policy on Yemen, and evaluate whether this policy is correct or not. Today he (Turkish President Erdogan) is holding talks with the Iranian President. I am expecting that by tomorrow he will be able to get back to us about it," Sharif said.
    Some MPs said Saudi Arabia had legitimate security concerns about Yemen.
    "For Saudi Arabia Yemen is like Afghanistan is for Pakistan. It's next door. We want stability in Afghanistan; we want strength of Afghanistan. If anything goes wrong there, it affects us. Likewise, if anything goes wrong in Yemen, it affects Saudi Arabia. So Saudi Arabia has legitimate security concerns. And I think we should convey to Jawad Zarif, that - no matter what you do in Iraq and Syria - you don't need to send any Hezbollah people in Yemen. You don't have to interfere in Yemen," said Mushahid Hussain, a senator from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party.
    Sharif has repeatedly said he will defend any threat to Saudi Arabia's "territorial integrity" without defining what threat that could be, or what action he would take.
    Joining the Saudi-led coalition could inflame a sectarian conflict at home where about a fifth of the population is Shi'ite and attacks on Shi'ites are increasing, further destabilising the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people.
    "My opinion, as well as the opinion of my party, is that we should push for negotiations. Consultations will be more productive, as compared to sending our troops there," veteran opposition lawmaker Ghulam Ahmed Bilour told parliament.
    The debate could last for several days.
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