Hisham: Our ties with Gulf crisis nations not affected
KUALA LUMPUR: The political crisis between Qatar and four Gulf nations will not affect Malaysia’s diplomatic ties with the countries involved.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said: “Malaysia did not receive any negative reaction from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.”
Hishammuddin told the Dewan Rakyat that Malaysia would continue to monitor the crisis, support peaceful measures to ad- dress it and was confident in Kuwait’s mediation efforts.
“It is a complex issue and Kuwait must be given the chance to play its role in easing the tension between Qatar and the other countries.
“This is the stand (to let Kuwait continue its mediation measures) taken by Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the efforts are ongoing.
“We monitor this situation closely. During the Emir of Qatar’s (Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani) visit to Malaysia recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said we are always prepared to help solve the crisis.
“However, we are not capable of doing more than that to ensure that our ties with all countries involved are not affected.”
He said Malaysia practised wasatiyyah (moderation) and would want any conflict between Islamic countries to be solved without intervention.
Hishammuddin, who is also special functions minister, said this in reply to a question from Datuk Ahmad Nazlan I dris (BN-Jerantut), on behalf of Najib.
Nazlan had asked about the impact of Sheikh Tamim’s visit on Malaysia’s ties with Qatar and the four Arab countries.
The emir was in Malaysia on Oct 15 to 16 to strengthen bilateral ties, particularly in economy, trade and energy.
Hishammuddin said despite the lack of clarity in OIC’s stand on the issue, its endorsement of Kuwait’s role to bring an end to the crisis could foster unity among Islamic countries.
“If Kuwait’s efforts are supported by OIC, I believe our intention and hope in the unity of ummah among Islamic countries will be strengthened.
“As the world (of geopolitics) gets more complicated and as we address these challenges, we cannot give space to even the smallest crack in the ummah,” he said.