An extensive and, for some, exhaustive, Twitter thread is being widely shared and commented on Pakistani Twitter in which new claims have emerged regarding the alleged conspiracy that resulted in the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister in April. According to this theory, the then ISI chief General Faiz Hameed was involved in the ‘conspiracy’. The Twitter thread also claims that the firm hired by the PTI to lobby in the US paid Hussain Haqqani, a former diplomat who became persona non grata in the country over the Memogate scandal.
PTI leader Shireen Mazari endorsed the claims made in the thread titled the ‘Haqqani-Bajwa Files’ as correct while making some additions. However, she did not comment on the mention of General Faiz Hameed retired in the same thread.
New York-based Pakistani journalist Waqas Ahmed wrote on Twitter that during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf era, Robert Grenier’s firm was hired to lobby for Pakistan in the United States. Grenier had been the station chief of the CIA in Islamabad in the past.
According to the thread, which cited official documents, the agreement was brokered by PTI leader Iftikhar Durrani when Imran Khan and the army were on the “sam page”. At that time, no news was published in this regard.
Almost a year later in August 2022, the matter was floated in the Pakistani media and it was revealed that the PTI had struck the deal.
Firms working for foreigners in the US have to regularly submit documents detailing all their contracts and payments to the US government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Waqas wrote that after the PTI government fell, the documents Gernier submitted under US law revealed that Hussain Haqqani was paid thousands of dollars in the name of research.
It should be remembered that Hussain Haqqani has been accused by Imran Khan of being involved in the American conspiracy against him. According to Waqas, the PTI government was unaware of the payment to Hussain Haqqani. Unbeknownst to the then prime minister, the pieces on the political chessboard had started moving in the summer of 2021, the thread continues.
In September or October 2021, General Bajwa visited the UAE. He was accompanied by the DG ISI. Hussain Haqqani was in the UAE at that time and met Bajwa and others at the invitation of Emirati authorities. According to Waqas, Haqqani met General Bajwa, General Faiz and other officers in the Emirates. He claims that the people present there had a problem with the then prime minister Imran Khan.“
The matter was kept seret tilll the vote of no confidence, the thread claims. Garnier’s firm’s payment to Hussain Haqqani was also revealed after the fall of the Imran Khan government.
Some of the information has been seconded by PTI leader Shireen Mazari, who wrote a Twitter thread of her own. Mazari wrote that General Bajwa had complained in a high-level meeting that the country was not using Pakistani academics abroad for advocacy and lobbying. When the general was asked if there were any recommendations, continues Mazari, General Bajwa suggested Hussain Haqqani. This shocked everyone and no one supported his opinion. Mazari believes that it was at that time that General Bajwa decided to make his clandestine move that resulted in the ouster of the civilian government.
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In her thread, Mazari claims that Iftikhar Durrani was brought in by his old batch mates and PTI first came to know about it when the story came to light. She claimed that it was clear that Hussain Haqqani’s services were acquired to harm the PTI.
However, in her reply, Shireen Mazari did not mention the claims in Waqas’ thread regarding General Faiz Hameed.
It should be remembered that PTI workers have been strong supporters of General Faiz Hameed and until some time ago there was the perception that Imran Khan wanted General Faiz Hameed installed as the army chief. The PTI leader has denied it in interviews.
