Trump nominee supportive of jailed ex-PM Khan hits out at Pakistani top minister

Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (AFP/File)

• Khawaja Asif alleges “few voices” in the West calling for jailed former premier’s release with “full support from Israel”
• In a response to Asif on X, Grenell says calls for review of what US taxpayers were providing Pakistan in aid

ISLAMABAD: US President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy nominee Richard Grenell hit out at Pakistan’s defense minister this week, calling him “reckless” for alleging that Western voices backed by Israel were demanding ex-PM Imran Khan’s release from prison as part of an anti-Pakistan campaign. 
Grenell has been in the news in Pakistan in recent weeks over social media posts calling for the release of Khan from prison. In a veiled reference to Grenell, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said voices in the Western world were making statements in the media for Khan’s release with “full support from Israel,” which Pakistan does not recognize, nor have diplomatic relations with.
“Which clearly shows that Imran Khan is an Israeli asset through which they want to destroy the only Muslim nuclear power [Pakistan],” Asif said. “The few voices that are being raised in the Western world for Imran Khan should know that we, the Pakistani people, know how to protect our interests.”

آپریشن گولڈ سمتھ کے ریکروٹ جہاں بھی موجود ھیں وہ عمران خان کی نجات کے لئے پاکستان کے مفادات کے خلا ف بھر پور مہم چلا رہے ھیں ۔ ان عناصر کو اسرائیل کی بھر پور حمایت حاصل ھے اور وہ میڈیا میں تواتر کے ساتھ گفتگو کر رہے ھیں۔ جس سے صاف ظاہر ھوتا ھے کہ عمران خان ایک اسرائیلی اثاثہ ھے…

— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) December 25, 2024

Grenell hit back at Asif on X.
“The death threats, and crazy talk … from the Minister of Defense is reckless,” Grenell said in a post in which he tagged the IMF and USAID. “There should be a review of what the US taxpayer provides Pakistan in aid.”
The Trump envoy nominee added that Pakistan’s embassy in Washington and its ambassador to the US, Rizwan Sheikh, had “some explaining to do.”

The Pakistan Embassy in Washington, DC @PakinUSA and Ambassador Rizwan Sheikh have some explaining to do.

The death threats, and crazy talk about operation Goldsmith from the Minister of Defense is reckless.

There should be a review of what the U.S. taxpayer provides Pakistan…

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 25, 2024

In an interview on Tuesday, Grenell had urged the President Joe Biden administration to use its last days in power to push for Khan’s release from prison so he could run for office in Pakistan.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch declined to comment on Grenell’s statements.
“As far as any individual capacity, anyone making statements in their individual capacity, we would not like to comment on that,” she said.
Pakistan has been gripped by political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. He blames his removal from the PM’s office on his political rivals led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the all-powerful military. Both reject the charge.
Khan has been in jail since August in a slew of cases he says are politically motivated to keep him away from power.