Did US ask for Imran Khan’s removal as Pakistan PM after he visited Russia?

A United States-based news outlet has published what it claims to be the details of a diplomatic “cypher” – or a secret cable – that suggests the US administration wanted to remove former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan from power last year.

Khan was sacked from power in April 2022 after he lost a no-confidence vote in parliament. He alleged he knew of the “cypher” while he was in office which, according to him, proved the US hatched a conspiracy with the help of his political opponents and the Pakistani military to remove him.

 He later made a U-turn, saying he wants good relations with the US, but continued to blame his successor Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the military for orchestrating his removal.

Khan is currently serving a three-year sentence and has been barred from politics for five years after he was convicted of corruption charges by a court in the capital Islamabad last week. He denies the charges and says the action against him is aimed at stopping him from contesting elections, expected later this year.