Rejoinder: PTI takes exception to Hoagland’s statement
PTI’s central information secretary says If US authorities had any problem they should have not issued a visa.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s central information secretary Shafqat Mehmood on Sunday took strong exception to Richard Hoagland’s earlier statement in which he said Imran Khan’s detention at the Toronto airport was “played up for political reasons.”
Hoagland, who is the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy, said last Thursday that stories regarding Imran’s detention by US authorities were inaccurate and played up for political reasons. “This is totally contrary to the facts. It became an international story because he is a world renowned figure and a leader of a major political party in Pakistan,” Mehmood said in a statement emailed to The Express Tribune, adding that questioning his (Imran) stance on drones was “scandalous.”
“If US authorities had any problem they should have not issued a visa. Questioning him like this was uncalled for … he should have been treated with respect.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2012.