'Army chief turned down Imran's request for meeting'

Imran Khan's PTI has claimed that he had not sought to meet army chief, Gen Asim Munir but as per sources, the former PM had reached out to him but was rebuffed, media reports said on Wednesday.

'Army chief turned down Imran's request for meeting'
Source: IANS

Islamabad, March 8 (IANS) Imran Khan's PTI has claimed that he had not sought to meet army chief, Gen Asim Munir but as per sources, the former PM had reached out to him but was rebuffed, media reports said on Wednesday.

Geo News programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath" anchor Shahzeb Khanzada, citing unnamed sources, said that Gen Munir told businessmen meeting him on Monday night that Imran Khan sent him a message seeking a meeting, but he told the PTI chief that it was not his job as army chief to meet politicians, Geo News reported.

The army chief asserted that the army "would neither interfere in politics nor would play any role in it", the anchor quoted the sources as saying. Gen Munir maintained that he would not interfere in political matters and the political leadership itself should resolve its issues.

Participating in the programme, veteran journalist Hamid Mir said President Arif Alvi had tried to arrange a meeting between Gen Munir and Imran Khan, but the army chief told the President that he wants to stay away from politics.

A day earlier, PTI leader and former Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhary had claimed that former Prime Minister Imran Khan "never made any request" personally or through his "representatives" to meet the army chief.