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Donald Trump's incoming envoy backs Imran Khan's release, calls charges against ex-Pakistan PM ‘false’
Grenell also drew parallels between the corruption charges that Imran Khan is facing and those surrounding Donald Trump.
In a significant move, Richard Grenell, US President-elect Donald Trump-nominated US envoy for special missions, publicly backed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's release from prison, claiming that the current regime created false allegations against him.
"I'd like to see Imran Khan be released from jail. He's currently in prison, facing many of the same allegations as President Trump, where the ruling party put him in prison and created some sort of corruption and false allegations, and he's in prison now," ANI quoted Grenell as saying.
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Grenell also drew parallels between the corruption charges that Khan is facing and those surrounding Trump, adding that both men were victims of “politically motivated allegations”.
The US diplomat's comments came during an interview with the American news outlet Newsmax on Wednesday, where he discussed US-Pakistan relations under the Trump administration.
Khan, who is also the founder and chief of Pakistan's key opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is currently detained on corruption charges in a Pakistani prison.
Trump's envoy Grenell praises Imran Khan
Grenell also praised Khan for improving ties between the two nations, noting that the relationship had flourished when the PTI chief was in power. He highlighted Khan's background as a former cricket captain and outsider to traditional politics, aligning him with Trump's political outsider status.
"We had a much better relationship with Pakistan during the Trump administration when a guy named Imran Khan was the leader of Pakistan. That's because Imran Khan was an outsider. He was a former cricket player and actually the captain of the Pakistani national cricket team. He wasn't a politician, and he spoke in very common-sense language. He and Donald Trump had a very good relationship," Grenell said.
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Earlier on Tuesday, Grenell, in reply to the US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller's post in X, called for the release of the PTI founder.
He further slammed the State Department Spokesperson stating that the US's concern over the "sentencing of Pakistani civilians in a military tribunal" was late and that the effort was "too little and too weak."
"You are late. And this is too little and too weak. Speak normally. Free Imran Khan," Grenell said on X in reply to Miller's post.
