Jailed Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan proposes ‘conditional’ talks with military

Khan says ready to hold ‘conditional negotiations’ with the powerful military and has appointed a representative for the talks.

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has said his party is ready to hold “conditional negotiations” with the country’s powerful military and has appointed a representative for the talks.

“We will hold conditional negotiations if the military leadership appoints its representative,” according to a post from Khan’s official X page on Wednesday, which cited a message from him from inside a jail on Tuesday.

The army, which has directly ruled Pakistan for nearly half of its 76-year history but denies involvement in politics, has not commented on the offer yet.

Khan said one of the conditions for negotiations was that “clean and transparent” elections be held and that what he called “bogus” cases against his supporters be dropped.

He appointed Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a close political ally and leader in a smaller party, to represent him in talks.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government accused Khan of “pleading” for talks with the army and asked him to instead apologise for his previous attacks on the institution, according to local media reports.

“The self-proclaimed revolutionary who used to say that he won’t ask for forgiveness, has come down to pleading to the armed forces to talk to him,” Marriyum Aurangzeb of the governing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said in a statement.

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called Khan’s offer a “conspiracy against the country” and another attempt by the PTI founder to drag state institutions into his “dirty politics”.

Khan has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of a national election in