Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks from last year wherein he called slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden a martyr were "a slip of tongue".
In June 2020, the prime minister, while addressing a National Assembly session, had said that Pakistan had to face humiliation when US forces came to Abbottabad and “killed, martyred” Osama bin Laden.
PM Imran’s apparent slip of the tongue stirred a controversy with opposition parties lashing out at him for using the word martyr for Bin Laden.
Read more: PM Imran’s OBL remarks played up by a section of media: Qureshi
#BREAKING: Pakistan PM Imran Khan calls Global Terrorist Osama Bin Laden a shaheed (martyr) inside Pakistan National Assembly. Khan says, US came inside Pakistan and killed and martyred Osama Bin Laden. Says, Pakistan has faced humiliation for more than 10 years in war on terror. pic.twitter.com/qnNqrvBvDA
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 25, 2020
"Our position [on the matter] is absolutely clear, PM Imran has also talked about it and our foreign ministry is absolutely clear on this too," Fawad said during an interview with a private TV channel.
The information minister said that Pakistan has voted in favour of declaring al Qaeda a terrorist organisation in the United Nations. "It was just a slip of tongue... PM has clarified it," he said while referring to Imran Khan’s remarks last year, adding that his political spokesperson had also immediately clarified Pakistan's position on the matter.
"When our own media highlights such things then the foreign media is obviously going to pick up such matters from here," Fawad said, while blaming the media for "blowing the issue out of proportion".
Also read: Tribune Fact Check: No — Imran Khan doesn't think Osama bin Laden is a martyr
The issue resurfaced last week when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told a foreign journalist that the prime minister's statement was "quoted out of the context."
“Out of context… he was quoted out of context. And, a particular section of the media played it up,” said Qureshi when Afghanistan’s Tolo News anchor said PM Imran had called Osama bin Laden a ‘martyr’.
The interviewer then asked Qureshi if he considered Bin Laden a martyr. “I will let that pass,” the foreign minister responded after an uneasy pause.
Reporter: Is Osama Bin Laden a martyr??
— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) June 20, 2021
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the great orator, thought about it hard and then let that pass.pic.twitter.com/Opgcq2ypQI
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