Petition to be filed on ‘Sharif-Osama links’

ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party plans to highlight the role of PrimeMinisterNawazShariffor allegedly taking money from Osama bin Laden, the party’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI will file a petition in the Supreme Court seekingimplementationoftheverdict in Air Marshal (retired) Asghar Khan case‘s regarding the riggingofthe1990electionandthatit would also approach the court against Sharif for allegedly taking money from the al-Qaeda chief in the name of jihad.

PTI claims the money allegedly taken from bin Laden was used in 1989 to conspire against then premier Benazir Bhutto’s government.

Chaudhry said he would file a petition in the Supreme Court this week seeking admission of the case against Sharif for “taking funds from a foreign individual to destabilise and conspire againstdemocracyinPakistan”.

ThePTIpossessesnoevidence to substantiate its case in court, except for some interviews and excerpts from a book titled Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-e-Aman, he said.

The book was written by Shamama Khalid, wife of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative Khalid Khawaja, who was murdered by the Taliban in North Waziristan in 2010.

ThebookclaimsShariftookRs 1.5 billion from bin Laden to promote jihad in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.

ThebookfurtherclaimsRs270 million was used to support a no-confidence motion against Benazir Bhutto in 1989.

The PTI would also file a petitiondemandingtheimplementation of the2012 verdictthatSharif had received money from an intelligence agency.