• Minister says Imran Khan may be called ove charges against Zardari. 
• Says Sheikh Rashid’s arrest is not political victimisation. 
• Govt hasn’t asked Sheikh Rashid to level charges against Zardari, he says.

Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan may be summoned regarding the allegations against former President Asif Ali Zardari.

“It is the right of the State to inquire if Sheikh Rashid, the Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief, has evidence supporting his charges against the former president,” said the minister, speaking in Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath‘ on Thursday. He said that what is happening to Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rashid is not political victimisation.

Sheikh Rashid, who was arrested for in a case registered against him for levelling allegations against former president Asif Ali Zardari, has been sent on a two-day physical remand.

Sanaullah emphasized that the PML-N government did not ask Sheikh Rashid to make such serious allegations, and the Election Commission of Pakistan, not the government, filed a case against PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry. The government is currently conducting an inquiry into the incident where Fawad’s face was covered with a cloth.

The government is conducting an inquiry into covering Fawad’s face with a cloth is in progress, he said.

The government doesn’t seek to arrest anyone however, it wants an end to the spread of torrorism through statements, he asserted.

The government will share details of the Peshawar bombing with the Afghan government as the facilitators of terrorism in Pakistan are believed to be holed up in Afghanistan, he said. 

There is no doubt that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants went to Afghanistan from Pakistan, he said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the Apex Committee in Peshawar today, he added. 

Allegations

The PTI chairman had in January alleged that Zardari was hatching as well as financing an assassination plot against him for which the ex-president had hired “terrorists”.

“…there’s a Plan C. Asif Zardari is behind it. He has amassed a lot of money through corruption and he has invested that money in terrorists and hired a militant organisation,” the PTI chief had alleged. However, the PPP strongly denied the claim and served a legal notice to Khan.

Following the allegations put forward by Khan, Rashid had also backed the claims and supported the allegations.