The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden. The martyr: Imran Khan
Islamabad:
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan faced a mounting reaction on Thursday after declaring that former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had been “martyred”.
Imran Khan made this comment to Parliament as he described the story of Pakistan’s difficult relations with the United States since US special forces killed Bin Laden in 2011 in the northern city of Abbottabad .
“The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden. He martyred him,” said Imran Khan.
The Prime Minister had to deal with the return of opposition figures and observers following the televised speech.
“Imran Khan fiddled with history, declaring Osama bin Laden a martyr today,” said former Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to parliament.
“Muslims around the world are in trouble because of the discrimination they face due to recent terrorism and our Prime Minister is making the situation worse by calling obl martyr of Islam!” Meena Gabeena, a Pakistani activist, said on Twitter.
Pakistan has officially denied knowing that Bin Laden was hiding in the country until he was shot during a night raid on May 2, 2011.
The incident was a major national embarrassment and severed the already tenuous ties between the United States and Pakistan.
Asad Durrani, a former spy master, told Al Jazeera in 2015 that the powerful Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) probably knew where he was hiding and hoped to use it as currency.
September 11 brain found after 10-year manhunt in Abbottabad, a garrison town north of Islamabad where the headquarters of Pakistan’s military academy is located, prompting allegations of collusion by authorities with the terrorist group.
Imran Khan has made controversial statements repeatedly over the years, including during a trip to the United States in 2019 when he claimed that the ISI had provided Washington with a lead that helped them find and to kill bin Laden.
The prime minister, who became a cricketer, has long been criticized by opponents for having sympathized too much with the militants, his rivals formerly nicknamed him “Taliban Khan”.
