Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, while talking with journalists on August 21 in Adiala Jail, dismissed allegations of maintaining ties with former ISI Chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed after his retirement, saying, “General Faiz was no longer a hero after his retirement. He became a zero.”
Khan opined that there would be no point to stay in touch with Faiz after his retirement, Samaa TV reported.
Furthermore, expressing concerns about Pakistan’s image abroad, he said, “I’m a former civilian prime minister, and my trial in a military court will tarnish the reputation of Pakistan.”
“I demand that the army chief conduct the trial of General Faiz in an open court if the former ISI Chief is involved in matters related to May 9,” he told journalists.
Security sources have responded to Khan’s demand of holding an open trial of former ISI Chief Gen Faiz saying, “Who is he to tell whether there will be an open trial of Faiz Hameed or not,” Samaa TV reported.
Sources also revealed that if Khan is put on trial with Hameed’s ongoing case, then “rest assured, it will be open.”
“The whole world will then know what the founding chairman is doing and has been doing,” warned the security sources, according to Samaa TV
Previously:
On August 12, Pakistan Army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), announced the arrest of former ISI Chief Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed for misuse of authority and stealing valuables from the owner of Top City housing society in Islamabad.
The army issued a statement that an inquiry was conducted into the complaints in compliance with the order of Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC).
ISPR stated in its press release of August 12, “Several incidents of violation of the Army Act have also come to light after Faiz Hameed’s retirement and the process of Field General Court Martial has also been started”.
Meanwhile, journalist Omar Cheema on August 12 claimed that when authorities raided the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretariat last month, they found evidence of former spymaster Lt Gen (retd) Faiz’s “role in facilitating PTI.”
Omar alleged, “Gen Faiz was connected to PTI leadership and trained them to bypass intelligence agencies’ supervision because he was the inside man.”
The journalist further claimed, “The problem that the army is facing is the involvement of its own people with PTI. And the leader of all these internal dissenters is Gen Faiz.”
He stated that the founder of PTI, Imran Khan, was getting some facilities in jail that nobody could explain until now.
Cheema claimed that the Top City Case in which Gen Faiz was found guilty was just for optics, while the real reason was his cooperation with PTI and Imran Khan.
“This is a big setback for Imran Khan because his biggest supporter has been arrested,” said Cheema.
He said this indicates where the relationship between the army and the PTI is going.
Two days later, the PTI founder suggested that a judicial commission be formed if Gen Faiz’s arrest is related to May 9 events.
PTI remained unusually quiet on the matter with Khan saying that it was an ‘internal matter’ of the Army distancing his party from Gen Faiz’s arrest.
While talking to journalists in Adiala Jail, Khan dismissed all the rumours about his relation with former ISI Chief, saying, “I have no connections with Faiz Hameed’s arrest.”
Khan also criticised this military’s treatment of Gen Faiz, calling him an “asset that was wasted.”
He suggested that accountability is good but should be “across-the-board accountability.”
Khan recalled that ex-army chief Gen Bajwa removed Hameed at the behest of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, and after that, a heated exchange occurred between Khan and Bajwa. Khan calls Faiz Hameed ‘an asset’ that was wasted.
