Saudi Arabia conspired with US to remove Imran Khan from power: Sher Afzal Marwat

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sher Afzal Marwat has said that Saudi Arabia and the United States jointly played a role in a conspiracy to orchestrate the removal of the then Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Speaking on a private TV talk show, the PTI lawmaker accused Saudi Arabia of being a “puppet of US President Joe Biden” and of furthering American interests in the region.

While failing to provide evidence to substantiate his claims, Marwat suggested that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman may have been displeased with the Khan government, “possibly due to reports of his mimicry within their cabinet.”

Marwat further alleged that the aid currently being received by Pakistan is part of a larger scheme aimed at sabotaging the then-PTI government.

Saudi Arab was involved in regime change operation against Imran Khan: Sher Afzal Marwat pic.twitter.com/VVqb6SqTti

— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) April 17, 2024

PTI founder, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail, initially accused the US of conspiring to orchestrate his ouster in April 2022. 

Khan claimed that a confidential diplomatic cable, or cipher, sent by the then-Pakistani ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan, provided evidence of cooperation between the US, Pakistan's military, and opposition figures to depose him.

The cable detailed a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu in Washington on March 7, 2022.

However, he later reversed his stance in November 2022, stating that he no longer holds the US responsible for his ouster.

But, PTI has continued using the rhetoric of foreign conspiracy and argued that the cipher through which Donal Lu communicated conspiracy "actually exists".

During a hearing in US Congress in March, The US ambassador dismissed the accusation that he or his government had any involvement in Imran Khan's removal.