Pakistan against forcible expulsion of Syrian president

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said it was against toppling beleaguered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and it fully supports the territorial integrity of the Arab Republic.

"Pakistan is against foreign military intervention in Syria and fully supports the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic," Foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry told Senate Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday.

The statement by Pakistan clearly shows a tilt in the policy that now is aligned with the UN resolution adopted this month that does not insist on removal of Assad.

Pakistan maintained neutrality in five years old conflict which killed around 250,000 people and displaced more than a million people.

Its new policy runs against the policy of Saudi Arabia and Turkey with which Pakistan has close ties.

It will also complicate Pakistan's position vis-à-vis 34-member Saudi alliance which excludes Iran, Iraq and Syria.

But the new stance is more close to Pakistan's traditional policy of staying clear of politics of Middle East by delicately balancing its ties with the Arab world and Iran.