Govt backtracked from its commitment to arrange meeting with IK: Ayub

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub on Thursday said the government has backtracked from its commitment to arrange a meeting of the party’s negotiating team with former prime minister Imran Khan in jail to discuss the ongoing talks with him.

Talking to reporters outside the Federal Judicial Complex after appearing before the court, he said that “we were told that arranging a meeting with PTI founding chairman Imran Khan is included in the jail manual.”

The government has backtracked from its commitment, he said, adding that if the government truly has authority then it should arrange a meeting with Khan in jail.

He said that PTI’s demands include the formation of a judicial commission to probe the events of May 9 and November 26 and the immediate release of all the political workers.

Earlier, he along with other PTI leaders appeared before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in cases registered against them in connection with PTI’s November 26 protest.

The ATC judge Abual Muhammad Hasnat Zulqarnain, while hearing the case, extended the interim bail of Omar Ayub, Zartaj Gul, Sher Afzal Marwat, Ali Bukhari and Shoaib Shaheen till February 7 in cases registered at Ramna, Secretariat, Margalla, Karachi Company and Kohsar police stations.

During the hearing, Prosecutor Chaudhry Zahid Asif told the court that so far, no accused had joined the investigation. The judge inquired if the accused, Zartaj Gul, was present. She came to the rostrum and requested the court to permit the police to conduct the investigation from her and other accused here in the courtroom.

The judge remarked that this is a court, not a police station but said that an order could be issued in her specific case.

The court, after hearing the arguments, extended the interim bail till February 7.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025