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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan has refused to tender an apology in the contempt of court case, DawnNews reported.
“I am ready to go to the jail but I will not apologise,” khan said.
Khan has said that he will not back down from his stance till his last breath and will not apologise even if he is declared ‘ineligible’ and sent to jail.
He said that the Supreme Court made a big mistake by taking notice of ‘contempt of court’.
“If the need arises, I will take up Aitzaz Ahsan’s offer,” he commented.
He further said that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had become controversial after the Arsalan Ifitikhar case.
The Supreme Court, in the notice issued to the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief, has said that Khan apparently had tried to incite hatred against the apex court in one of his interactions with the media.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, will hear the case on Friday.
Khan meets Kerry
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday met with Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan during which the latter raised the issue of drone attacks.
In a statement a PTI spokesman said Imran Khan told John Kerry that the drone strikes are not only a violation of the country's sovereignty and international law but also are counter-productive.
The PTI chief also urged the United States to take all stakeholders including Pakistan into confidence on the issue of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
In this connection Imran Khan said the United States should halt hostilities in that country.
During the meeting, the PTI chief also spoke with US Secretary of State about the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the difficulties being faced by the provincial government.
Khan has been a vocal critic of US drone policy in Pakistan and has repeatedly demanded an end to drone strikes.
In a television interview later, Kerry said of the drone strikes: “I think the program will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it.”
“I think the president has a very real timeline and we hope it's going to be very, very soon,” he told Pakistan Television, when asked whether the US had a timeline for ending drone strikes, aimed at militants in Pakistan.
US drone missiles have targeted areas near the Afghan border including North Waziristan, the main stronghold for various militant groups aligned with al Qaeda and the Taliban, since 2004.
Pakistanis have been angered by reports of civilian casualties and what they see as an abuse of their sovereignty.
