Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan expresses readiness for talks with military

Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that his party is ready to engage in "conditional negotiations" with the country's powerful military and has appointed a representative for the talks.

"We will hold conditional negotiations if the military leadership appoints its representative," a post from Khan's official X handle said on Wednesday (Jul31), which cited a message from him from inside a jail on Tuesday.

The military's media wing did not respond to news agency Reuters request for comment.

It may be mentioned herethat the army has previously ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 63-year history but refuted it is currently involved in politics.

Khan has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of the national election scheduled for February. He is also facing dozens of other ongoing cases.

Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party say the charges against him were politically motivated to thwart his return to power.

Notably, the candidates backed by PTI had a stronger-than-expected showing in the country's election and recently, a court ruled that the party was eligible for extra reserved seats, though still not enough to rule outright.

Khan stated that one of the conditions for negotiations was that "clean and transparent" elections be held and that what he called "bogus" cases against his supporters be dropped.

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a close political ally of Khan and leader of a smaller party, will represent him in the negotiation talks.

Imran Khan to completes one year in jail

August 5 (Monday) marks one year of Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan's incarceration. To mark the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of the party founder, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced a series of nationwide protests set for August 5.

PTI stalwart Asad Qaiser during a press conference held in Islamabad said, "August 5 marks the day of PTI founder's arrest, we will stage protests on that day."

Qaiser also demanded an end to the "baseless cases" against PTI leaders, highlighting the continued arrests of party members.

(With inputs from agencies)