MALAYSIA will not be dragged into Middle Eastern conflicts due to its close ties with Saudi Arabia, Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican said today.

Reezal told Dewan Rakyat that despite the close relationship with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia also has a good rapport with Qatar, as proven in the recent official visit by Qatari emir to Malaysia.

“If we are overly siding with Saudi, surely we won’t be in the current atmosphere with Qatar, which could cause uneasiness for Saudi Arabia.

“If the time comes for us to call a spade a spade, we will do that,” he said, adding that Malaysia will continue its pragmatic approach to foreign relations.

He also said the King Salman Centre for International Peace (KSCIP), which will be opened next year in Putrajaya by the controversial Crown Prince Mohammad Salman, would use Malaysia’s deradicalisation template.

“This is our chance to insert certain values in the centre. I can give the assurance that the centre will follow our template. They want to learn our mould,” he said, adding that the centre is under the Defence Ministry.

The government in July said it will make a 16ha plot of land available in Putrajaya for the centre to combat terrorism.

The KSCIP currently operates from Kuala Lumpur, while the government has been given two years to build the new centre.

Malaysia’s relationship with Saudi Arabia has improved during the Najib administration.

In April 2016, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said in Istanbul that the kingdom had deposited RM2.6 billion into Najib’s bank account as a donation. – November 16, 2017.