Richard Grenell, president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for envoy on special missions, has claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan shared a “very good relationship” with Trump during the latter’s first term as US president.
Speaking to Newsmax TV, a conservative American television channel, on Tuesday, Grenell said the incarcerated PTI supremo, who served as Pakistan’s PM from 2018 to 2022, had strong ties with Trump during that period.
The statement came amid whispers of hope among PTI’s fanbasethough without any official backingthat Trump might step in to pull their leader out of legal hot water as the Republican leader prepares to regain the reins of office.
Grenell, echoing his previous stance in support of Imran, urged the outgoing Biden administration to take steps for the release of the imprisoned leader before its term concludes.
“He’s currently in prison, a lot of the same allegations just like President Trump where the ruling party [in Pakistan] put him in prison and created some kind of corruption allegations, false allegations,” Grenell said.
Grenell called on the outgoing Biden administration to “make progress” on Pakistan, criticising the current government’s neglect of the issue over the past four years.
Referring to a recent statement by State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller expressing concerns over civilian trials in Pakistani military courts, Grenell said, “What Matt Miller really meant was free Imran Khan. And so I just became adamant, ‘Why don’t you just say this, instead of pretending that you care about all these processes, the judicial processes, just say what you mean,’ which is to let the guy [Khan] out of prison, who actually wants to run for office and let the [Pakistani] people decide”.
Grenell stated that the Secretary of State-designate was prepared to discuss Pakistan’s missile programme.
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