Malaysia will play its role to voice its rejection of the US’ unilateral declaration on the status of Jerusalem at the UN, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

He said Malaysia strongly supported Egypt’s draft resolution rejecting the declaration made by the US to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“Although we are not a member of the UN Security Council, we, as a UN member country, still have the right to take our stand...I have made it clear that we strongly oppose (the declaration) and that it also contravenes the UN Security Council resolution.

“The declaration is not a matter that can be decided upon unilaterally. It must be done through discussions because the rights of the Palestinians should not be sidelined,” he told a press conference at the Velana International Airport in Malé, Maldives, on Wednesday.

The prime minister was in Maldives for a two-day official visit, which ended today.

He said this in response to the report that the UN General Assembly would convene an emergency session on Thursday after the US vetoed the resolution brought forth by Egypt to call for the super power to withdraw its decision on Jerusalem.

On the “Save Jerusalem Solidarity Rally” scheduled for Friday at the Putra Mosque, Putrajaya, the prime minister said he had accepted the invitation to join fellow Malaysians to show solidarity in the issue.

“I accepted the invitation because I want to show that this issue is not limited to the government only, but the Malaysian Muslims as a whole, and we want to show our protest against the declaration to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” he said.

Earlier, during a joint press conference with Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom at the President’s Office, Najib reiterated Malaysia’s total rejection of the move to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Abdulla Yameen in his remark said both of them exchanged views on the situation in Palestine and the situation involving the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, Myanmar, and agreed to collaborate more closely on these issues.

On the issue of Rohingya, Najib said he had conveyed to Abdulla Yameen (photo) that Malaysia was doing everything possible to ease the plight of the refugees.

“Our position is very clear that something positive needs to be done to ensure injustice and persecution of Rohingya are stopped. They should be allowed to return to their homes,” he said.

Najib said Malaysia had yet to see positive results after Myanmar shared its commitment with Malaysia to resolve the Rohingya issue.

He said Malaysia and Maldives also shared a common position with respect to combating violent extremism particularly “the evil ideology of Islamic State and Daesh”.

“I have explained to the (Maldives) president some of the preemptive measures that we have introduced in Malaysia. We are on top of that but the threat is alive and it is a clear and present danger to Malaysia and the rest of the world,” he said.

The two leaders unequivocally reaffirmed their commitment to the fight against terrorism and expressed to redouble their joint efforts to combat the menace of terrorism in all forms and manifestations that threatens the world.

Both Najib and Abdulla Yameen also discussed international and regional issues of mutual interest such as climate change and sustainable development.

“We (Malaysians) are very sympathetic and empathise with plight of the island states including the Maldives, because if we do not do anything on the climate change then the countries on the front line especially the island nations will be adversely impacted,” Najib added.

- Bernama