Plot to assassinate Pak PM Imran Khan reported: Minister

Islamabad, Apr 1 (PTI) Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday claimed that a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Imran Khan has been reported by the country’s security agencies, ahead of Sunday’s no-trust motion against the premier.

Khan’s security has been beefed up as per the government’s decision after these reports, the Dawn newspaper quoted Chaudhry as saying. His statement came a week after similar claims were made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda who had said that a conspiracy was being hatched to assassinate Khan over his refusal to “sell the country”.

Vawda had made the remarks on ARY News show over a letter Prime Minister Khan had brandished at the PTI’s March 27 show of strength here, claiming that it contained “evidence” of a “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government. Vawda said that there was a threat to Khan’s life. He, however, did not reveal if the purported conspiracy to assassinate the premier was mentioned in the letter.

Vawda also said that Khan was told multiple times that bulletproof glass needed to be installed before his dais at the March 27 rally but he refused. Information Minister Chaudhry’s claims also come a day after Khan, during his address to the nation, vowed to foil “an international conspiracy” hatched against his government by the Opposition leaders and their alleged handlers ahead of the no-confidence vote in the National Assembly.

In a live address to the nation, 69-year-old Khan discussed a ‘threat letter’ and termed it as part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable for following an independent foreign policy. He named the US as the country behind the threat letter in what appeared to be a slip of tongue. Prime Minister Khan linked the letter with the no-confidence motion against him by the Opposition in the National Assembly. The National Assembly is scheduled to vote on the no-trust motion on Sunday.

Khan’s address came at a critical juncture of his political career when he lost majority after defection from his PTI party. Two of his allied parties also withdrew their support and joined the ranks of the Opposition. The US has asserted that it did not send any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country as it sought to refute allegations of America’s involvement in the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led government.

Khan met President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Khan also became the first Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif travelled to Moscow in 1999.

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