In an interview with FRANCE 24, former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan reacted to the November 3 assassination attempt against him at a protest rally, during which he was shot in the leg. Officially, the gunman is believed to have acted alone, but Khan said he suspected the assailant was merely a decoy serving the interests of a state-level conspiracy. He directly accused current top Pakistani government leaders, saying they feel threatened by his party's popularity in view of the next elections in the country. Khan also said he feared he could be attacked again in the near future: "They think that the only way to get me out of the way is actually [to] eliminate me. So I think that there is a threat, still."
Khan, who served as Pakistani PM from 2018 to 2022, told FRANCE 24 he was convinced that the recent attack on him was an assassination plot hatched by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the interior minister and a senior intelligence officer. He claimed that the suspect arrested was merely a decoy and that there was another gunman at the rally in the eastern city of Wazirabad. Khan said he only trusted the chief justice to conduct an independent investigation, arguing that any other probe would be sabotaged by the interior minister.
The former premier said he feared further attempts on his life but vowed to rejoin the anti-government march. He said he would take "more precautions" but vowed to carry on regardless of the risks, insisting that the protest march would remain peaceful. He said the only solution was free and fair elections, stressing that his party was certain to win them.
Khan, who was ousted as premier in April after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, denied having backtracked on his claim that he was toppled as part of a collusion between the US and the Pakistani elite. He stressed there was indeed evidence that the US administration wanted to oust him, saying that a diplomatic cable proved his claim and that the issue was now in the hands of the chief justice. However, he said he didn't want to go against the interests of the people of Pakistan by antagonising a superpower.
