PESHAWAR:
Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan Tuesday denied contacting
real estate tycoon Malik Riaz for a patch-up with the ex-president and PPP
Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. The PTI chairman's response
comes after an audio of a conversation between Riaz and Zardari was leaked,
where the businessman could be heard giving the PPP co-chairman a message
reportedly from the PTI chairman. The audio's date and time have not been confirmed
as of yet, but Riaz could be heard saying that Khan has requested him to
mediate between the two political leaders. But while speaking to digital
journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's capital on Tuesday, Khan — who became the
first prime minister to be voted out through a no-confidence motion in April —
refuted the claims of him wanting to patch up with Zardari. In response to a
question, the ex-premier said whilst in power, there was "a lot of
pressure" on his government to accept Israel as a sovereign state — amid
the Abraham Accords. "We
were sent a message that you should think about your country [...] but at this
time, I cannot reveal who had sent the message to us," the ousted prime
minister said. Although, he refrained from disclosing the names of the people,
Khan told journalists that a United States "influenced lobby" wants
Muslim states to accept Israel. The ex-premier's comments come as Israel
President Isaac Herzog said that he had had an "amazing experience"
while meeting a delegation, mainly comprising Pakistani expatriates, living in
the United States. But while responding to media queries, the spokesperson of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs categorically rejected the notion of any
delegation from Pakistan visiting Israel, stressing that Pakistan's position on
the Palestinian issue was clear and there was no change in it. Moving on, the
PTI chairman reiterated that he had not made a deal with anyone and that he had
called off the long march on May 26 to avoid bloodshed — as chaos gripped Islamabad.
"I am saying this for the last 26 years: Zardari and PMLN are the
same." On the matter of PTI members of the National Assembly's (MNAs)
resignations, Khan said they have resigned from their posts, and there was no
need for them to verify their resignations. National Assembly Speaker Raja
Pervaiz Ashraf had a day earlier summoned the PTI lawmakers to verify their
resignations from the lower house. "We had announced in front of the
National Assembly's speaker that we have resigned. There is no need for a
member to verify resignation individually [...] the day we come back to the
assembly, it will mean that we have accepted this imported government." Imran
Khan, meanwhile, urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the Sharif
family’s money laundering case and appoint a “monitoring judge to oversee all
mega cases of politicians”. Taking to Twitter, the former premier alleged that
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was “trying to interfere in his and his family's
money laundering cases by altering record through friendly prosecution”. “FIA,
on behest of crime minister, has taken back challan for supplementary reference
for altering it to destroy the case in toto,” alleged the former prime
minister. He claimed that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) “brazenly
lied” to the apex court by informing it that the “special prosecutors were laid
off as they remained absent”. However, he added that the special prosecutors
were “present on all dates before the FIA court”. “SCP must take suo moto
notice to ensure fair trial by appointing a monitoring judge to oversee all
mega cases of politicians. As it is, five months have passed and FIA court has
failed to frame charges. This speaks volumes for how big thieves exploit and
manipulate the system,” said the PTI chairman.
In his Twitter thread, Imran also stated that the NAB amendment
bill recently approved by the National Assembly was “basically” a
non-reconciliation ordinance. He stressed that the amendments would “destroy
the anti-corruption drive in Pakistan for all times to come”. “All cases
against Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari will be closed and a
new round of mega corruption will commence,” claimed the PTI chairman. The PTI
chairman's tweet came hours after Special Court Central-I Judge Ijaz Hassan
Awan, hearing the PM and Chief Minister Punjab Hamza’s money laundering case,
directed FIA to submit a supplementary challan with the correct details of the
accused. In his written order, the judge noted that in the last hearing,
non-bailable arrest warrants were issued for Suleman Shehbaz, Malik Maqsood
Ahmad, Syed Tahir Naqvi and Ghulam Shabbar. “Said warrants have been received
with the report that Suleman Shahbaz and Syed Tahir Naqvi are residing out of
country and are avoiding service of warrants of arrest intentionally and have
concealed themselves for this purpose,” the order read. The court noted that
Malik Maqsood Ahmad’s address given by the FIA did not exist and was “quite
incorrect”. On the other hand, Ghulam Shabbar, another accused in the case,
passed away on May 11, 2021. However, the court noted that while submitting the
report, the prosecution had not mentioned the names of the fathers of any
accused mentioned in the challan. “Therefore, before proceeding further the
prosecution is directed to submit supplementary challan recording correct names
of the accused, those of their fathers and their complete and correct
addresses. In view of the above, the case is adjourned for supplementary
challan on 04.06.2022,” said the judge.
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