News of sending 20,000 troops to Qatar a conspiracy: FO

Says rumours being spread to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and Gulf countries

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office denied on Sunday media reports claiming that Pakistan would send its 20,000 troops to Qatar in the wake of the Gulf-Arab diplomatic fallout and termed such rumours a conspiracy to create misunderstandings between Pakistan and Gulf states.According to a press release of the Foreign Office (FO), the reports in some foreign media concerning the deployment of Pakistani troops in Qatar are “completely fabricated and baseless”.

“These false reports appear to be a part of a malicious campaign aimed at creating misunderstandings between Pakistan and brotherly Muslim countries in the Gulf,” stated the FO Spokesman Nafees Zakaria, according to the press release.

Some foreign media publications recently claimed that Pakistan would deploy 20,000 troops in Qatar, following Turkey's decision to allow its troops to be deployed at a Turkish military base in the Gulf country facing isolation.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar and closed their airspace to commercial flights on Monday, alleging that it was financing militant groups. Qatar, however, denies the accusations.