Imran names US official who made ‘threat’

Published April 4, 2022
This combo photo shows Prime Minister Imran Khan (left) and US Assistant Secretary of  State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu. — Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan/US State Dept website
This combo photo shows Prime Minister Imran Khan (left) and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu. — Photo courtesy: Radio Pakistan/US State Dept website

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday shared more details about the threat he said he had been facing since early last month.

After the house was prorogued, a number of PTI leaders rushed to the PM Office and felicitated the prime minister on the “success of his surprise move”.

In remarks that were televised, the PM told them that when the National Security Council (NSC) had condemned the involvement of an external force in no-trust resolution, counting [of votes on the motion] had become “irrelevant”.

Mr Khan revealed that the US had sent a threatening message through Pakistan’s envoy. He was quoted as saying that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had reportedly in a meeting with Ambassador Asad Majeed warned there could be implications if he survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

Read: Can the PM's claims of a foreign plot against his govt be described as self-obsessed?

The PM said he had reports that PTI dissidents had frequented the [US] embassy. “What were the reasons that the people, who have left us, met people of the embassy frequently in the last few days,” he wondered.

He termed the deputy speaker’s ruling as “shocking” to the opposition. In fact, Mr Khan said the opposition was unable to understand what had happened. If he had told them [opposition] about his surprise a day earlier, they would not have been shocked this much, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Football elections
17 Nov, 2024

Football elections

PAKISTAN football enters the most crucial juncture of its ‘normalisation’ era next week, when an Extraordinary...
IMF’s concern
17 Nov, 2024

IMF’s concern

ON Friday, the IMF team wrapped up its weeklong unscheduled talks on the Fund’s ongoing $7bn programme with the...
‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs
Updated 17 Nov, 2024

‘Un-Islamic’ VPNs

If curbing pornography is really the country’s foremost concern while it stumbles from one crisis to the next, there must be better ways to do so.
Agriculture tax
Updated 16 Nov, 2024

Agriculture tax

Amendments made in Punjab's agri income tax law are crucial to make the system equitable.
Genocidal violence
16 Nov, 2024

Genocidal violence

A RECENTLY released UN report confirms what many around the world already know: that Israel has been using genocidal...
Breathless Punjab
16 Nov, 2024

Breathless Punjab

PUNJAB’s smog crisis has effectively spiralled out of control, with air quality readings shattering all past...