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Sunday December 22, 2024

Spokesperson defers to US embassy over question on why officials haven’t visited Imran in jail

The State department has been, since then, consistently refuting the allegations

By Wajid Ali Syed
April 13, 2024
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller addressing a press briefing in Washington, on July 17, 2023, in this still taken from a video. — YouTube/US Department of State
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller addressing a press briefing in Washington, on July 17, 2023, in this still taken from a video. — YouTube/US Department of State 

WASHINGTON: The US State department on Thursday reiterated that “decisions about the Pakistani government are for the Pakistani people to make”

The department spokesperson, during the daily press briefing, was asked about the allegations of electoral irregularities and thus the legitimacy of the current new government in Pakistan. The spokesperson also refrained from commenting on why American officials have not visited the incarcerated PTI leader, Imran Khan. “I would defer to our embassy in Pakistan to answer that question,” the spokesperson responded.

Khan has repeatedly accused the Biden administration for toppling his government, when in fact he was removed through a vote of no confidence two years ago. The State department has been, since then, consistently refuting the allegations and calling them “false.” The department’s high official, Donald Lu, appeared before a congressional panel last month and repeated that “these allegations, this conspiracy theory, is a lie. It’s a complete falsehood.” During the session, he was asked by a member of the panel to send the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan to see Khan in jail, as well.