'There Is Nothing but Darkness Ahead'

Pakistan's former PM Imran Khan says he earned the wrath of the U.S. by trying keep his country neutral

- TOM O'CONNOR

FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER IMRAN Khan was ousted from office in April 2022 after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament. He's since been charged with alleged corruption and terrorism and survived an assassination attempt. His arrest on corruption charges in May led to rioting across the country. In this exclusive interview, Khan tells Newsweek about the forces he believes are behind the political and economic chaos in his country and his fears for the future.

The following excepts from the interview have been edited for length and clarity. A transcript of the full interview can be found on newsweek.com.

Newsweek_You've outlined a conspiracy to remove you from office including Pakistan's military, the administration of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the U.S. How are they coordinating and what's their goal?

Khan Let me just give you exactly what happened. March 6, 2022, there's a meeting between the Pakistani ambassador Asad Majeed [Khan] and the U.S. Under Secretary of State for South Asia Donald Lu. A cipher is the secret, coded message that you get from your ambassadors... So, I get this message. Donald Lu is telling the ambassador that unless I, Imran Khan, am removed as the prime minister in the no-confidence motion, there'll be consequences for Pakistan. I mean, there were other things, but this was the main thing.

Next day, there's the no-confidence motion tabled in the National Assembly. And before that, we see that the American Embassy is meeting our parliamentarians, our backbenchers... [We know] they were meeting because we had the report of meeting... Some of the guys who were going into the American Embassy beforehand were first to jump ship. So, I was puzzled, because I didn't quite understand why the U.S. would object to a deal.