Pakistan has requested Saudi Arabia to release 10,089 of its citizens detained in the Kingdom for overstaying their Umrah visas. The request came in a meeting between the visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Prince Muhammad Bin Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs here Saturday. Malik also assured Prince Muhammad that Pakistan would take fool-proof measures to combat the problem of overstayers. Addressing the media at Conference Palace here Saturday evening, Malik said he has also requested Prince Muhammad to allow convicted Pakistanis in the Kingdom to complete their sentences in Pakistan. Malik asked Pakistanis to apply for and get Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) within three months. The Ministry of Interior, he said, will soon increase staff members and open three more offices to accept applications for MRPs. Coming down hard on the menace of terrorism, the Pakistani minister said terrorism was a common enemy of humanity and the world community should join hands to eliminate the scourge. Terrorists and extremists, he said, were not Muslims and were defaming Islam. The minister ridiculed claims by some quarters that Osama Bin Laden was alive. “Osama Bin Laden is dead and those who claim otherwise should come forward with proof,” he said. Pakistan, he said, always looks toward Saudi Arabia and considers it a uniting force for the entire Ummah. He appreciated the Saudi leadership for initiating inter-faith dialogue and harmony among different cultures and religions. The Pakistani community, he said, is playing an important role in the development of the Kingdom. “Their role is crucial in the development and prosperity of Saudi Arabia as well as Pakistan,” he said. Rehman said Pak-Saudi relations were time-tested and beyond material considerations. The leadership and the people of Pakistan, he said, have high regards for King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, his leadership and the people of Saudi Arabia. He lauded the Saudi leadership and expressed his gratitude for their assistance to Pakistan during the many crises it faced. __
