ISLAMABAD: WikiLeaks reveals that the Pakistani and Saudi rulers equally suspected and distrusted each other with President Asif Zardari accusing Saudi Arabia of funding religious parties saying that “mosques and madrassas have become a ‘cottage industry’ in Pakistan” as King Abdullah was quoted as saying that Zardari was “the greatest obstacle in Pakistan’s progress”.
A diplomatic cable sent by former US ambassador Anne W Patterson to Washington on January 28, 2008, reveals that Zardari had expressed his concerns over Saudi money even in Sindh and said mosques and madrassas had become a “cottage industry” in Pakistan. Patterson’s cable adds, “According to Zardari, there was no such thing as a ‘moderate Taliban’ which had warped the concept of Islam.”
