Pakistan's powerful dismisses Imran Khan's accusation of US conspiracy

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's powerful military dismissed the ousted prime minister Imran Khan's accusation that the United States had conspired to topple him in a parliamentary vote of confidence.

Khan, 69, who led a nuclear-armed South Asian country of 220 million people for more than three years, accused Washington of backing his ouster because he had visited Moscow against U.S. advice. Washington denies the charge.

On February 24th, Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin, the day Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.

Khan initially backed off the no-confidence move, saying a forum of civil and military leaders, the National Security Committee, had endorsed the alleged conspiracy.

There is a possibility that there is a word of conspiracy in that statement. I don't think so, he told a news conference about the NSC statement this month, which expressed concern over nondiplomatic language used in a cable from a foreign country, widely assumed to mean the United States, about the no-confidence vote.

The lower house of Parliament of Pakistan voted to remove Khan from office on Sunday.

The military helped Khan win the 2018 election, which they both deny, but that support waned after a fall-out over the appointment of the country's next intelligence chief late last year.

Khan's former information minister Fawad Chaudhry called for the creation of a judicial commission to investigate the accusation that the U.S. conspired to topple Khan.

Iftikhar denied Khan's assertion that the army chief of staff, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, had offered to help mediate in his deadlock with the opposition.

He said that Khan had asked Bajwa to convey to the opposition on his behalf that he would call snap elections if the no-confidence motion was withdrawn.

Bajwa went to the opposition and put a request in front of them, and after a detailed discussion they said they wouldn't take any such step, and that we will go on as we have planned, Iftikhar said.

He also clarified that the U.S. had never asked for military bases in Pakistan after U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan last August. Khan's party had said that Washington turned against him after he was absolutely not in a TV interview in response to a question whether he would give the bases to the Americans.

Khan has aired the conspiracy allegations in his public rallies, demanding snap elections.