Imran says he has no plans to travel abroad, slams Pakistan govt
ISLAMABAD: Unfazed after being placed on the no-fly list, Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday took a swipe at the top leaders of the ruling coalition, saying he has no plans to travel overseas as he neither owns properties nor has any businesses abroad.
Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and other leaders and former assembly members of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were reportedly barred from leaving the country on Thursday.
Taking to Twitter, Khan wrote: “I want to thank the government for putting my name on the ECL as I have no plans to travel abroad, because I neither have any properties or businesses abroad nor even a bank account outside the country.” “If and when I do get an opportunity for a holiday, it will be in our northern mountains, my favourite place on earth,” he said.
During the trial, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had presented around 21 witnessed to prove that Sharif family cannot justify the money trail to buy four apartments in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London. It is alleged that the properties were bought with graft money in 1990s when he served twice as the prime minister.
Sharif, however, has rejected any wrongdoing and insisted they were bought with the legitimate money.
Khan, 70, and several top leaders of his party are facing cases in connection with the violence that erupted after the PTI chief’s arrest on May 9 in a corruption case. On May 9, violent protests erupted after paramilitary Rangers arrested Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.
Meanwhile, Firdous Ashiq Awan resigned from PTI on Friday over the violent and “terrorist activities” and said the former prime minister and Pakistan cannot go together, becoming the latest senior leader to quit the opposition party.
Awan, 53, served as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting from 2019 to 2020.
“Imran Khan and Pakistan can’t go together,” she was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
Her resignation came after other top PTI leaders — including the party’s Secretary General Asad Umar, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and former minister for human rights Shireen Mazari — parted ways with the main opposition party.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday that those involved in attacks on military installations would be tried in the military courts while those charged with attacks on civilian targets would be prosecuted under civilian laws.
Pakistan’s civilian authorities handed over 33 suspects to be tried in military courts, the interior minister said on Friday.
“The accused who are being handed over to the military are those who trespassed and entered very sensitive defense installations,” interior minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters.
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday the government was mulling a possible ban on Khan’s PTI party following the attacks by his supporters.