'2 Attempts Were Made To Cut Deal With Imran Khan, He Refused': Pak PM's Aide

A close aide of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that jailed former premier Imran Khan was offered a "deal" twice, but he declined to accept it.

"Two serious attempts were made to cut a deal with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan in the past, but they failed," Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah disclosed in a talk show on Wednesday evening.

“The first attempt was led by Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and then-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Ali Amin Gandapur before November 26, 2024, and the second was made by a few people from abroad in the recent past. Imran Khan initially agreed but later backed out of the deal," Sanaullah said.

"We want a political solution to this problem, but Khan is not willing to find a way out," he added.

Sanaullah, a close aide to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) head Nawaz Sharif, further said Khan wants the incumbent government to be packed and he comes to power.

Defending three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, cutting a deal with the military establishment, Sanaullah said, “Nawaz Sharif is a seasoned politician. He found a way forward for himself and his party”.

Reacting to Sanaullah's disclosure, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday clarified in a post on his X account, saying, "There is neither any deal nor any leniency being offered to Imran Khan. Any impression of the government granting relaxation to Imran Khan is entirely false. Imran Khan is a convicted criminal." Meanwhile, Khan's family and party have demanded eye treatment for him at Shifa Hospital in Islamabad, in the presence of his personal physicians.  Khan's lawyer, Salman Safdar, told the Supreme Court last week that the 73-year-old former premier had lost 85 per cent of vision in his right eye in jail.

Later, Khan's sister Noreen Khan said, "Imran Khan is enduring unimaginable mistreatment in prison under the directives of Field Marshal Gen Asim Munir as the country is under illegitimate and un-Islamic rule." The cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)