FO ‘categorically rejects’ ex-SAPM Shahzad Akbar’s claim regarding state involvement in acid attack

The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday “categorically rejected” what it said were “preposterous” claims by PTI leader Mirza Shahzad Akbar about the alleged involvement of state officials in last year’s acid attack on him.

Akbar was a former special assistant to the prime minister during the PTI government. He had left Pakistan soon after PTI founder Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion in April 2022. He had reportedly left for Dubai from where he departed for the United Kingdom.

Akbar had said he was attacked at his England home last year, adding that “acidic liquid” was thrown at him. “I will not be intimidated nor bow down to those who are doing this,” he had said at the time without elaborating further.

According to Geo News, Akbar initiated legal action against the Pakistan government on Monday and served a copy of the legal notice to the Pakistan High Commission in London.

The notice names “several Pakistan government officials as responsible for the attack”, the report said. It added that Akbar alleged Pakistani officials were behind the attack which left him “scarred and with psychological injuries”.

When questioned about the matter during her weekly press briefing, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the allegations made by Akbar were “simply preposterous”.

“We categorically reject the allegations made by Shahzad Akbar, against the state of Pakistan and its institutions and agencies. These claims are baseless and are politically motivated.

“As we have said in the past, safety and security of Pakistani nationals, wherever they are, are a matter of priority for Pakistan. It is not the policy of Pakistan to target its own nationals abroad.

“Several high-profile political dissidents have been living in the United Kingdom for several decades. They have often indulged in vitriol and invective against Pakistan … Pakistan has not engaged in any extra-territorial acts against these individuals,” Baloch said.

PTI allegations of giving airbases to US

Baloch was also questioned regarding apprehensions by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub on April 25 that Pakistan handed control of two airbases to the United States. Similar concerns were made by senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser today.

“This speculation is completely unfounded. We reject it and there is absolutely no basis for these social media speculations,” she responded.

Mumtaz maintained that there is no truth in the speculations, adding that the country “has no plans to offer bases to any foreign government or military directed against anyone.”

She further said that the question of Pakistan offering bases to foreign powers may be directed to Ayub because “I have given you the reality and the facts in response to an earlier question today.”

Accountability of alleged Indian trans-national assassinations

Questioned about the surfacing of an alleged Indian spy network in Australia as well as the reported role of the Indian intelligence service in two assassination plots in Canada and the United States, Baloch said that Pakistan had presented “concrete evidence” of the involvement of Indian agents in terror attacks inside the country, along with the “extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings of Pakistani nationals on Pakistani territory”.

“Pakistan has said in the past that India’s network of espionage […] has expanded to several continents and is now an issue of concern for the international community,” the spokesperson said.

Baloch said such actions were illegal and a violation of international law, the UN Charter and the “basic precepts of justice and due process”.

“We therefore urge the international community to hold India to account for its illegal acts and for the actions that it is taking in foreign countries in violation of international law,” the FO spokesperson said.

Exchange between German ambassador, students ‘regrettable’

Questioned about the confrontation between the German ambassador and pro-Palestine protesters at the Asma Jahangir Conference over the weekend, Baloch said the whole exchange was “regrettable”.

She said the “ongoing genocide” in Gaza had distressed people and “heightened passions” around the world, including in Pakistan. “We hope this weekend’s incident will be a time for reflection and would trigger a constructive dialogue on selectivity and double standards on human rights issues,” Baloch added.