Following a strong backlash from different quarters over Bushra Bibi’s allegations against Saudi Arabia, incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan defended her spouse, saying she didn’t mention the Kingdom at all.
“Bushra’s statement was deliberately taken out of context to draw our brotherly country into a needless controversy,” the PTI founder — who remains incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail since August last year — said in a statement issued on his official X handle.
The former first lady, a day earlier, issued a rare video message ahead of PTI’s “do-or-die” protest, accusing Saudi Arabia of being involved in ousting her husband’s government.
She alleged that when the former prime minister went to Madina “barefoot”, the then-army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa started receiving “their calls”, implying that the Saudi officials had a role in his ouster.
The former first lady claimed that Bajwa was asked, “Who is this person you have brought with you […] we don’t want such personalities. Since then, they launched a smear campaign against us and started calling Imran a Jewish agent,” she alleged.
The statement drew strong backlash from government officials, calling it a “suicide attack” to harm friendly relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
However, Imran rebuffed the government’s impression, saying that he has “excellent relations” with Saudi Arabia.
“When I was attacked in Wazirabad, one of the first calls I received was, through the embassy, from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” he wrote, noting that the Kingdom has always stood by us in difficult times.
This is a developing story and is being updated with further details
