Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had blundered on the international stage in his haste to win over the Muslim community with a hurriedly put together visit to Gaza, says opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

NONE Anwar ( right ) described the premier as  unwise for his visit to Gaza without following  protocol normally observed by other head of states.

“There is no problem visiting both the West Bank or Gaza... but I thought that he was unwise as he should have called on both sides first", he told a press conference at the PKR headquarters today.

By trying to appease the Muslim crowd here, he failed to recognise the importance of showing a balanced and fair foreign policy in Palestine to encourage the two major parties there to work together and forge unity," he added.

Anwar also said that calling on both sides was the norm for key nations such as Egypt and Turkey  which are engaged with the Palestinians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had criticised Najib, accusing him of attempting to divide Palestinian politics following  reports of his widely hyped Jan 22 visit in the Malaysian media.

Palestine is separately ruled by the Hamas and Fatah party in Gaza and the West Bank respectively.

Hamas was elected government with Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister after the 2006 legislative polls but the international community refused to recognise them.

In contrast, the United Nations recognises Fatah which leads the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud as the legitimate representative of Palestine.

Aside from the civil strife, parts of Palestine today continue to be occupied by Israel,  seen as a contentious issue for the global Muslim community, including in Malaysia.

'Election considerations' for trip

Apparently stung by the criticism, Najib ( 2nd from right in photo ) had on Jan 24 defended his trip, denying meddling in Palestinian affairs, he had voiced support for a unity government.

NONE Anwar also questioned Najib's administration sudden willingness to recognise Hamas so close to the general election in Malaysia.

 "I think it is political because this is a recent decision, Umno and the Malaysian government had previously refused to recognise Hamas and would not even allow them here on official visits.

"To the contrary, we have said in Parliament the need to recognise Mahmoud Abbas and also the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people in Gaza that had democratically elected Hamas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh," he said.

He added that any act of supporting the Palestinian struggle was welcome but the premier had failed to understand the sensitivity of the situation.

Anwar had last year met with Hamas chief Khaled Mashal on the Palestinian situation, a talking point the PKR supremo often uses at ceramahs.

Najib walks into a Palestinian minefield