I cannot backtrack from my view on cipher issue: Imran Khan
Says he might be attacked again, claims during an interview
There is not & there has never been a truth to Imran Khan’s allegations: US State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel
LAHORE ( Web News )
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan, who survived Nov 3 assassination attempt in Wazirabad, feared he could be attacked again in the near future.
The PTI chief was injured during a gun attack while leading the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad on November 3. A PTI supporter, Moazzam Nawaz, was killed in the incident while 14 others, including the former premier, were wounded.
In an interview with FRANCE 24, Imran Khan said that he was convinced that the recent attack on him was an assassination plot hatched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah. He claimed that the suspect arrested was merely a decoy and that there was another gunman at the rally in the eastern city of Wazirabad.
Imran Khan said he only trusted the chief justice to conduct an independent investigation, arguing that any other probe would be sabotaged by the interior minister.
The former premier said he feared further attempts on his life but vowed to rejoin the anti-government march. He said he would take more precautions but vowed to carry on regardless of the risks, insisting that the protest march would remain peaceful.
The PTI chief said that the present rulers feel threatened by his party’s popularity in view of the next elections in the country. “They think that the only way to get me out of the way is actually [to] eliminate me. So I think that there is a threat, still.”
Imran Khan, who was ousted as premier in April after losing a no-confidence vote in the Parliament, denied having backtracked on his claim that he was toppled as part of a US conspiracy.
He stressed there was indeed evidence that the US administration wanted to oust him while referring to the matter of cipher. However, Imran Khan said he didn’t want to go against the interests of the people of Pakistan by antagonising a superpower.
The United States has once again reiterated that “there has never been a truth” to PTI chairman Imran Khan’s allegations regarding Washington’s purported role in the foreign conspiracy and expressed resolve not to let “propaganda, misinformation and disinformation” come in the way of bilateral ties with Pakistan.
“There is not and there has never been a truth to these allegations, but I don’t have anything additional to offer,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press briefing.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran has repeatedly claimed that Washington conspired to oust him from power.
When asked to comment on Imran Khan’s recent statement regarding the US-backed regime change narrative, Patel said the US values its longstanding cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to US interests. “That remains unchanged,” he said.
In an interview with the Financial Times published on Saturday, Imran said that he will no longer blame the US and wants a dignified relationship if re-elected.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s over; it’s behind me,” he said of the alleged conspiracy, which both PM Shehbaz and the US had denied. “The Pakistan I want to lead must have good relationships with everyone, especially the United States.
“Our relationship with the US has been as of a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we’ve been used like a hired gun. But for that, I blame my own government more than the US.” Commenting on Imran’s remarks, Patel noted that the US doesn’t have a “position on one political candidate of a party versus another.”
“We support the peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles,” he stressed.
“Ultimately, we will not let propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation get in the way of any bilateral relationship.”