Imran blames Pakistan's political elite for Trump's fresh tirade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday blamed the country’s political elite for US President Donald Trump’s tirade against Pakistan.   

Addressing a press conference here, the PTI chief said the ruling elite was responsible for bringing the country into disrepute.

“The political elite has defamed the country for their own petty interests. They are Mir Jaffar and Sadiq of Pakistan”, he said, adding that a few people were responsible for the current state of affairs and they were the reason foreigners were heaping scorn on the country.

Quoting the Wikkileaks, Khan sought to justify how the country’s leaders presented themselves before the US authorities and earned a bad reputation for the country.

In one instance, the PTI chief said, former premier Nawaz Sharif told the then US ambassador that the then army chief Aslam Baig opposed the idea of joining the Gulf War, but he forced him into being part of the war.

He alleged that the Sharif brothers asked the US administration to help them get to the corridors of power for the third time.

“To blame Pakistan for chaos in Afghanistan is travesty of justice and the country is deliberately being blamed to befool the people of the United States,” he said while hitting out at the Trump administration.

He said the US has been fighting militants in Afghanistan for some 16 years, but parking the blame of its failure to rein in terrorism in the country at Pakistan’s door.

“To hold Pakistan responsible for US failures is not just travesty of justice, but deeply humiliating and insulting to the people of Pakistan,” he added.

The PTI chief said Pakistan desired peace in Afghanistan the most.