KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim confirms he has received an invitation from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to attend a special Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Riyadh.
The invitation was extended on Thursday (Oct 31).
However, the Prime Minister said he is still considering the invitation from Prince Mohammed, who also serves as the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
"Yesterday, Prince Mohammed informed me about a special OIC meeting in Riyadh and asked me to attend, so I replied, 'Insha'Allah, I will try'," said Anwar.
"But I mentioned there should be more pressure; otherwise, it seems weak. Look at the statements from the United States and the United Kingdom when Israel attacked Iran — they strongly urged Israel to stop.
"Then, in the next statement, they warned Iran not to retaliate. What kind of international relations is this?
"Is there justice? No. Is there humanity? None.
"So, how can we talk about international relations without addressing humanity and justice?” he remarked during the "Temu Anwar" programme at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) here on Friday (Nov 1).
Also present were Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, and UPNM vice-chancellor Lt Gen Datuk Mardzuki Muhammad.
The Prime Minister emphasised the need for stronger global pressure to end the brutality and oppression in Gaza and to uphold justice in humanitarian values, especially for Palestine.
He affirmed he would remain steadfast in his stance, despite advice from some foreign leaders to not be too "firm" on the Palestinian issue.
"Indeed, some of my friends have advised me, ‘Anwar, we are a small country; don’t be too firm.’ I am on good terms with foreign leaders; in Vientiane (Laos), I met with Anthony Blinken (US Secretary of State) for an hour.
"We discussed investment, Gaza, and Lebanon. The US said, ‘Don’t be friendly with Russia.’ I replied, ‘That’s your issue; don’t instruct us. We are an independent, sovereign country; we make decisions for our people and our nation',” Anwar said. – Bernama
