Pakistan deports British journalist who sought to meet former Premier Khan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan deported a British journalist on Wednesday who sought to see incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to media reports.

Charles Glass, who is said to be a friend of Khan, arrived last week in Islamabad but the government denied his request to see Khan.

Glass was detained by police from a house where he was staying and taken to an airport in Islamabad, Geo News reported, citing unnamed Interior Ministry sources.

The Interior Ministry did not respond to Anadolu's request for comment.

In an article for World Press Freedom Day in May, Glass demanded the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and Khan, asserting that both were imprisoned for defying the US.

The deportation came one day after Khan, 72, who is languishing in a jail in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi, offered conditions for talks with Pakistan’s powerful military to end a political crisis that has gripped the South Asian country following his ouster in a no-trust vote in April 2022.

His three preconditions include the return of his party’s "stolen mandate,” the release of all detained party workers and the holding of transparent elections.

The former cricket star's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) was stripped of its election symbol in a national vote in February, however, independent candidates it supported emerged as the largest group in parliament.

However, the group could not form a government after it failed to stitch a post-election alliance.

The PTI accuses the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), of "stealing" its mandate through "rigging."

The ECP has rejected the allegation.

- No negotiations with 'puppet regime’

Khan said in a message Wednesday on X that his party would not hold talks with the "puppet regime" because Pakistan is under "undeclared martial law."

"This is why we prefer negotiations with military leadership, who are the actual decision-makers, instead of this puppet government," he said.