Imran meets ex-US diplomat Robin Raphael

ISLAMABAD: Former US diplomat and CIA analyst Ms Robin Raphael Sunday called on PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan at Banigala.

It was learnt that both discussed matters of mutual interest, mainly in the backdrop of Pakistan-US relations. Opposition Leader in the Senate Dr Shehzad Waseem was also present in the meeting. There was no statement about the meeting from any PTI leader, the spokesperson or the central media department.

PTI’s senior vice president and former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also met US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome at the American Embassy on September 8.

Back in 1993, Robin Raphel was appointed by the-then President Bill Clinton as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

The PTI leadership’s interaction with the US officials is being seen as an attempt to promote good relations with Washington.

A few weeks back, it was widely reported in the media that the PTI had hired an American lobbying and PR firm at a cost of $25,000 per month to manage its public and media relations in the United States.

Documents filed with the US Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) show lobbying firm Fenton/Arlook will provide public relations services, including but not limited to distributing information to and briefing journalists, placing articles and broadcasts, arranging interviews with representatives or supporters of PTI, advising on social media efforts and other such public relations services.

The contract between the firm and PTI-USA Inc has been signed for a period of six months. The contract mentions that the client does not include PTI, the political party registered in Pakistan. The FARA documents under its clauses also highlight, “PTI USA is in certain instances directed by the foreign political party in Pakistan.”

Likewise, it has also been reported and discussed in political circles and the formal and informal media that an American consulting firm, run by a former CIA station chief in Islamabad, has come into the limelight that was hired on behalf of PTI to lobby and provide advice on Pakistan-US relations.

Robert Laurent Grenier of Grenier Consulting LLC was hired last year when PTI was still in power. The agreement with the firm was signed by Iftikhar ur Rehman Durrani in July 2021 under the “supervision of senior [PTI] party officials and under the direction of Pakistan government officials”.