ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s inside minister on Wednesday accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan of “exposing an official secret doc” final 12 months to falsely declare he was ousted from energy in a plot by Washington.
The federal government plans to deliver legal costs in opposition to Khan over the motion, Inside Minister Rana Sanaullah instructed reporters in Islamabad, alleging that the previous premier’s abuse of an official secret doc had harmed Pakistan’s overseas relations.
The event is the newest in a tug of warfare between Khan, who was ousted from energy in a no-confidence vote within the parliament in April final 12 months, and the administration of his successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Khan has been slapped with greater than 150 authorized {cases}, together with a number of on costs of corruption, “terrorism” and inciting folks to violence over lethal protests in Might that noticed his followers assault authorities and navy property throughout the nation.
The violence erupted after his arrest in reference to a graft case and the rioting subsided solely after Khan was launched on an order from Pakistan’s Supreme Court docket. Khan has been granted bail in lots of {cases}, however has been pressured to repeatedly seem in courts to hunt safety from arrest, a standard step beneath Pakistani legislation.
Sanaullah, the inside minister, was referring Wednesday to an incident after Khan’s ouster, when the previous cricket star turned Islamist politician addressed a gathering of supporters.
On the gathering, Khan waved the doc in query, describing it as “proof” that he was threatened and claiming that his ouster was a conspiracy between his opponents and the US. Pakistan’s navy, Washington and Sharif’s authorities have all denied any conspiracies in opposition to Khan.
The doc that Khan waved was apparently a diplomatic correspondence between Asad Majeed, Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the US, and the Ministry of International Affairs in Islamabad, in response to Azam Khan, a former secretary to Imran Khan and certainly one of scores of his followers who’ve deserted him within the wake of the Might violence.
The content material of the doc, dubbed Cipher, has not been made public. Azam Khan, in a press release to courtroom earlier on Wednesday stated the doc was about Imran Khan’s go to to Moscow, which coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2021.
He additionally stated the previous premier had “manipulated the official secret doc” regardless of being suggested to not do it. When Azam Khan later requested for the doc again, he stated he was instructed it was misplaced.
Sanaullah stated the federal government must get better the Cipher from the previous premier as he believes Imran Khan nonetheless has it.
“It is a crime to disclose official secrets and techniques,” stated Sanaullah.
Khan dismissed the federal government’s deliberate costs as one other certainly one of its “feverish makes an attempt to implicate me in any case simply to get me disqualified and jailed” and stated he would expose “the entire Cypher drama” on Thursday.
“I’ll share the uncensored particulars of how this conspiracy unfolded,” he tweeted. “I guarantee you it will likely be extra gripping than any drama on television.”
Later Wednesday, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Company summoned Khan to seem in particular person earlier than its investigators on July 25 to elucidate his allegations that he was eliminated beneath a conspiracy.
The discover requested that he deliver paperwork to again up his claims, and warned him that failure to reply may contain with authorized motion. Khan had up to now not complied with two comparable notices to seem earlier than the company.
Individually on Wednesday, Khan appeared earlier than a courtroom in Islamabad, which prolonged his bail terrorism-related {cases} till July 26.
On Monday, dozens of Khan’s followers stop his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf get together to launch their very own forward of parliamentary elections anticipated later this 12 months. The defections had been a significant “political revolt” in opposition to Khan forward of the vote.