Pakistan, Oct. 17 -- Eighteen countries, including Pakistan, on Friday strongly condemned the opening of the Colombian embassy in Jerusalem, stating that any move to recognise the city as Israel's capital had no legal effect.

Colombia on Wednesday officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem, joining a small group of countries including the United States in taking the symbolic step of backing Israeli sovereignty in the contested city.

The vast majority of countries keep their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv on the grounds that the status of Jerusalem will be settled in a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a joint statement shared by the Foreign Office (FO), the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt...