‘Ex-spymaster Faiz Hamid not turning approver against Imran Khan’

• Barrister Ashfaq says “no truth whatsoever” in circulating reports.
• Faiz Hamid’s lawyer terms rumours “speculative and baseless”.
• Govt ministers have claimed Faiz becoming approver against Imran.

ISLAMABAD: Faiz Hamid, former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is not becoming an approver in any case against Imran Khan, claimed former spymaster’s lawyer.

Barrister Mian Ali Ashfaq, counsel for Faiz, rejected reports suggesting that his client may turn an approver against jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran, terming such claims as “speculative and baseless,” reported The News.

Responding to the publication’s queries, Barrister Ashfaq said there was “no truth whatsoever” in reports circulating in certain media and political circles that Faiz was considering becoming an approver in cases against Imran.

“All such reports are completely unfounded and based on speculation,” he said.

The clarification comes amid repeated statements by some federal ministers and Senator Faisal Vawda — considered close to the military establishment — who have said that the former spy chief would testify against the former prime minister.

There is also speculation about an alleged nexus between Imran and Faiz, particularly in connection with the May 9, 2023 violence. When asked whether he had directly discussed the matter with his client, Barrister Ashfaq did not respond in the affirmative, but said, “I know such things for a fact”, indicating that there was no question of Faiz becoming an approver against the PTI founder.

Speculation regarding a Faiz-Imran nexus is a government-backed narrative, which is repeated time and again ever since the May 9 incidents, during which military installations were attacked following Imran’s arrest.

The speculation furthered following the recent sentencing of Faiz for 14 years by a military court.

Senior cabinet members, including Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, have repeatedly claimed that the violence was the result of a coordinated plan involving Imran and the former ISI chief.

However, despite these assertions, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has not yet stated in any of its public briefings that such a nexus existed.

Notably, when the government’s chief spokesman, the information minister, was recently asked by The News whether claims of an Imran-Faiz connection were based on findings of a civil or military investigation or merely based on circumstantial evidence, he avoided a direct reply and referred the matter to the ISPR.

Originally published in The News