Fawad says quoting Osama bin Laden a martyr by PM Imran last year was a 'slip of the tongue'

He made it clear that the government's position regarding the terrorist entity is pretty much clear.

Talking to a news channel, the minister said Pakistan had voted in the United Nations in favour of Al Qaeda being listed on the terrorist list. He clarified that "It was a slip of the tongue”.

The premier, while speaking about the country's relations with the United States in an all-encompassing speech in the parliament last year in June, had said Pakistan had to face a lot of humiliation despite supporting Washington in the 'war on terror' and was then blamed for the US's failures in Afghanistan.

Recalling an incident that he said caused embarrassment to Pakistan, Mr Khan had said: "The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed, martyred Osama bin Laden. What happened after that? The entire world cursed at us and spoke ill of us."

The opposition had lamented PM Imran for his remarks, with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari saying the prime minister's choice of words was consistent with his history of appeasement to violent extremism.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill, however had defended the premier, saying he had twice used the word “killed” for bin Laden (in addition to martyred).

The issue resurfaced again last week when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi refrained from calling Osama bin Laden a terrorist in an interview with Afghanistan’s Tolo News.

When the interviewer quoted PM Imran as calling bin Laden a “martyr”, Qureshi said: “Well, again. Out of context. He (the PM) was quoted out of context. And, a particular section of the media pair it up.”

When asked if he would disagree, Qureshi paused for a while and then said: “I will let it pass.”