Imran Khan's close aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi arrested from his house in Islamabad
The Hindu
Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, close aide of Imran Khan, arrested by police from his house in Islamabad. Charges unclear, FIA interrogating Khan in case related to missing diplomatic cable. Qureshi was Foreign Minister when cable issue erupted, rejected media reports of split in party, demanded elections on time.
Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a close aide of jailed Imran Khan, was arrested by police from his house in Islamabad on August 19.
Mr. Qureshi, 67, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's Vice Chairman, was taken to the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) headquarters after the arrest.
The charges leading to Mr. Qureshi's arrest were not clear but the FIA is currently interrogating incarcerated PTI chief Khan in a case related to a missing diplomatic cable which he has for long mentioned as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to remove him as the Prime Minister in April last year.
“PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been illegally arrested once again,” the PTI said in social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mr. Qureshi was Foreign Minister when the issue of the diplomatic cable erupted.
The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.
PTI General Secretary Omar Ayub confirmed Qureshi’s arrest by saying that he was arrested shortly after reaching home after addressing a press conference.