Zardari considers Saudi King an ‘elder brother’, claims Pak following WikiLeaks expose

ISLAMABAD - Following the WikiLeaks report claiming that Saudi King Shah Abdullah considered the Pakistan president the greatest obstacle to Pakistan’s progress, Farhatullah Babar has said that President Asif Ali Zardari regards Shah Abdullah as an “elder brother”.

“The so-called leaks are no more than an attempt to create misperceptions between two important and brotherly Muslim countries,” the Daily Times quoted the president’s spokesman Babar, as saying.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit claimed that the leaked reports would have no effect on Pakistan-Saudi ties, saying that the government considered the “extremely negative reports” carried on the two nations’ relations attributed to WikiLeaks as “misleading and contrary to facts”.

“It is quite evident that these mischievous reports reveal the utter inadequacy of the author to grasp the essence of the Pakistan-Saudi relationship,” Basit said.

He also confirmed that Pakistan had refused Washington’s request to remove fuel from a nuclear research reactor, but denied that it was producing highly enriched uranium.

Basit said that the nuclear reactor in question had been provided by the United States in the 1960s. The Americans, he said, wanted the fuel back because they said it was their property, adding that no one could touch Pakistan’s nuclear facilities and assets.

“We condemn the irresponsible disclosure of sensitive official documents,” the Foreign Office spokesman said. (ANI)