Washington DC [US]: US President-elect Donald Trump's incoming envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, on Wednesday, called for the release of former Pakistani Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, who is detained on charges of corruption in Pakistan.
In an interview with the American news outlet Newsmax, Grenell discussed the relationship between the US and Pakistan during Trump's first term as president, noting that the relationship with Pakistan improved when Khan took to power.
According to Grenell, the former Pakistani Prime Minister was seen as an outsider and not a traditional politician, emphasising a connection with Donald Trump.
He pointed out that Khan is facing allegations similar to those that led to the imprisonment of former President Trump and called for his release, aligning his situation with that of President Trump.
"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.
"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," he added.
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 on X where he stated, "The United States is concerned by the sentencing of Pakistani civilians in a military tribunal and calls upon Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process."
