Washington (Web Desk): The United States (US) called on Tuesday on Pakistan to grant consular access to Khadija Shah, the prime suspect in the attack on the corps commander’s house in Lahore on May.
Shah is a prominent fashion designer with dual citizenship who was detained following the May 9 violence.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State Vedant Patel said this during his weekly briefing.
“We have asked Pakistani officials for consular access to her,” the State Department spokesman said.
Patel added “Whenever a US citizen is arrested overseas, we stand ready to provide all appropriate assistance and we expect Pakistani authorities to respect all fair-trial guarantees owed to these detainees.
“We expect Pakistani authorities to respect all free, all fair trial guarantees owed to these detainees,” he said.
When asked about former army chief general (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa manipulating the US to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson, Vedant stated that the “allegations” were “categorically false”.
"Pakistani politics were "a matter for the Pakistani people to decide". and for them to pursue within the auspices of their own Constitution and laws,” Vedant said, adding that the US valued its longstanding cooperation with Pakistan.
The State Department spokesperson said that Washington viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to US interests, which “remained unchanged”.