Shireen Mazari, the former Pakistan minister and a close aide to Imran Khan, recently insinuated that Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri would have been alive if former PM Imran Khan had been in power.
Taking to Twitter, Mazari alluded that the US engineered the removal of the former PM from office because it wanted a supportive government to assist them in the assassination of Al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The PTI leader wondered if the US used Pakistani airspace to target the Al Qaeda chief in Kabul, alleging that the Hellfire missile which caused the death of the terrorist had flown in Afghanistan from the direction of the Gulf region.
“Puzzling question: a US drone flew into Afghanistan from direction of Gulf region – assuming Pak hasn’t given bases yet (unless this govt has done so covertly) – but flew over which country’s airspace? Iran does not give any airspace rights to US mly so was Pak airspace used?” Mazari tweeted.
Mazari also floated a conspiracy theory, insinuating that the efforts to topple Imran Khan had started as early as June 2021, just 2 months before the Taliban stormed back to power in neighbouring Afghanistan. It is worth noting Khan is known for his close links to the Talibani leaders, which had earned him the moniker of “Taliban Khan”.
“Is that why PM IK had to be removed after his Absutely Not to US demands? I always date US regime change conspiracy from June 2021. Enough evidence,” she tweeted.
Imran Khan fuels ‘foreign conspiracy’ theories to delegitimise protest against his government and undermine new regime
Nevertheless, it has been catnip for the PTI leaders to blame the fall of their government on the United States, for it offers them a convenient reason to omit acknowledging the grim reality that their own allies had pulled the plug on Imran Khan’s ruling coalition.
Imran Khan has himself peddled conspiracy theories chalking up his removal from the PM office to the American authorities. Weeks before his ouster, Khan started insinuating the American role in deposing him from the office.
Khan had claimed ad nauseam that Donald Lu, assistant secretary of the US Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, met Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington in March and told him that Khan should be dismissed from power in the no-confidence vote.
However, the United States vehemently denied the allegations levelled by Khan, stating that it had no role in the churning brewing inside Pakistan, where legions of disenchanted youth took to the streets protesting against Khan’s government amid a severe financial crisis gripping the country.
Weeks later, Khan lost the no-confidence vote on April 10, resulting in his removal from the post of Prime Minister. Following the no-confidence vote, the opposition parties nominated Shehbaz Sharif, who was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan a day later.
However, in his bid to return to power, Khan has continued pushing anti-America conspiracy theories, asserting that there was American involvement in deposing him from the office of Prime Minister and that the current government headed by Sharif was a stooge of the United States.
