Islamabad: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that Saudi Arabia had no role in the regime change operation that led to his ouster in 2022, according to the head of his party-backed Sunni Ittehad Council.
Khan, 71, was removed from power in April 2022 and he immediately blamed a US-led conspiracy as responsible for his downfall.
However, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party came under pressure when party leader Sher Afzal Marwat during a private TV interview on Tuesday suggested that Saudi Arabia, alongside the US, played a part in the ouster of Khan.
His statement coincided with a high-profile visit from Saudi Arabia, led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan. The timing of Marwat’s claim landed the party in a soup, as it had already been blamed for working against investment in Pakistan.
Though the PTI had distanced itself from the views expressed by Marwat, Khan had to step in to control the damage. His statement was conveyed by party leaders who met him in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where he has been incarcerated since Sept last year.
According to Sahibzada Hamid Raza, the head of PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Khan during the meeting stated that Saudi Arabia was not involved in the regime change.
Earlier, the PTI had said that Marwat’s statement did not reflect the party’s strategy or stance in any manner.
Khan had uneasy relations with the Kingdom and he was forced to drop a plan to attend a meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia in 2019 after Saudi Arabia showed displeasure at the conference due to the impression that it was an effort to forge an alliance to challenge its leadership role in the Muslim world.
