Imran Khan names US official who threatened him

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday disclosed the details about a threat he said he had been facing since early last month.

Imran Khan said that the United States had sent a threatening message through Pakistan's envoy.

He reported that during a meeting with Pakistan's Ambassador Asad Majeed, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had warned that there might be implications if he survived the opposition's no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

After the house was prorogued on Sunday, a number of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders rushed to the prime minister's office and felicitated hin on the "success of his surprise move", reports Dawn.

Addressing them on television Imran Khan said that when the National Security Council (NSC) had condemned the involvement of an external force in no-trust resolution, counting (of votes on the motion) had become "irrelevant".

The Pakistan prime minister said he had reports that PTI dissidents had frequented the (US) embassy. "What were the reasons that the people, who have left us, met people of the embassy frequently in the last few days," he wondered.

He termed the deputy speaker's ruling as "shocking" to the opposition. Imran Khan said the opposition was unable to understand what had happened.

If he had told them (opposition) about his surprise a day earlier, they would not have been shocked this much, he added.