ISLAMABAD -  The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Monday announced to open another front against the prime minister and, this time, over the alleged claims that Nawaz Sharif received money from former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to contest elections and introduce an Islamic system in the country after the end of former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq’s regime.

“We have a decided to move a joint petition in the Supreme Court regarding the implementation of the apex court judgement in the Asghar Khan case over the allegations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for getting huge money from Osama bin Laden,” said PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry while talking to The Nation.

“The decision to point out allegations of Nawaz taking money from Bin Laden was a result of a consultation with the party’s legal team and a final decision had been taken,” Chaudhry said adding that the PTI would move the Supreme Court soon.

Last week, the PTI announced that it would file a petition in the Supreme Court demanding implementation of the Supreme Court verdict in the Asghar Khan case. In the 2012 judgement, the SC had asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to determine allegations that Nawaz Sharif and other politicians received money from the ISI prior to the general elections of 1990 to form an electoral alliance with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

“We in the petition will point out that Nawaz Sharif had also conspired against the democracy by taking money from foreign forces and the case should be registered against him to derail the democratic system,” said Chaudhry. He said that Nawaz in the past remained part of many conspiracies against the democratic system.

Rehmat Shah Afridi, former editor and publisher of the daily “Frontier Post” in some of his interviews given in the past had alleged that Osama bin Laden gave Rs1.5 billion to Nawaz in Saudi Arabia in the presence of former ISI operative Khalid Khawaja. He had alleged that Bin Laden directly made this disclosure to him and the money was distributed for Kashmir and Afghan Jihad and bringing an Islamic Caliphate system in Pakistan. He further had alleged that Nawaz used Rs270 million, out of the total money, to bring a no-confidence motion against the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the late 1990s to dislodge her government.

Shamama Khalid, the wife of Khawaja, in her book titled “Khalid Khawaja: Shaheed-i-Aman” also endorsed this allegation. Mrs Khalid in the book said that “Chief of PML-N Mian Nawaz Sharif received funding from Osama Bin Laden; founder of Al-Qaeda, to contest elections against Benazir Bhutto’s led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) after the end of Zia regime.”

The book claimed that the money was given after Nawaz pledged to introduce an Islamic system in the country but later he backtracked from all his promises after coming to power.

The book claims that the late Khawaja was very close to Nawaz for some time and Abdullah Azzam, known as ‘father of global jihad’ introduced Khawaja to Bin Laden.

Azzam was a Palestinian Sunni and had a large following in Arab countries. He recruited jihadis, through his writings, from the Arab world, for jihad in Afghanistan.

IMRAN MUKHTAR