Declassified: Khan says West plants corruption, feeds on Global South

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Declassified UK
27 Jan 2023 15:23
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Declassified UK reveals what former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a documentary, filmed while he was still in office, depicting the possible cause for his ousting.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan (AP)

A new Declassified report revealed information regarding a documentary about Pakistani former Prime Minister Imran Khan, titled Behind Closed Doors. The significance of the following statements increases given that the documentary was initially filmed while Khan was still in office.

The report emphasized that Khan, in the documentary, claimed that the collective West sought to rob the Global South of its resources and, contrary to popular opinion, has no intention of putting an end to corruption but is rather fueling it.

According to the report, Khan argued that Western nations have “no incentive” to stop corruption across the global south, since they are “benefiting from money stolen from our countries.”

It is worth noting that in April, when Khan was ousted and protests erupted across Pakistan, he wrote via his Twitter account "Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support & emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail."

Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support & emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail. Shows Pakistanis at home & abroad have emphatically rejected this
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 10, 2022

Khan then continued to maintain that his ousting was a US-orchestrated plot, and later survived an attempted assassination. He was later replaced as prime minister by Shehbaz Sharif.

According to the Declassified report, Khan discussed, in the documentary, the challenges of putting an end to “this plunder of the poor countries.”

On this, he stated, “There is no incentive for rich countries to repatriate money," adding that the richer countries "are benefiting from money stolen from our countries, which are parked there.”

When asked about these challenges, Khan responded by referencing the British authorities and claimed "They are benefiting from billions of dollars which flow into their properties and their businesses stolen from this country.”

Based on that logic, Khan reaffirmed that this is further proof as to why Western countries such as the UK have no interest in containing corruption in third-world countries. The repercussions of these types of corruption harm third-world peoples but benefit powerful Western countries through real estate investments and the such.

Khan affirmed, “We are the ones who suffer, and this is the dilemma…this is the big problem which the entire developing world is facing.”

The former Prime Minister made an even more daring statements when he underlined that “they [West] are benefiting from billions of dollars which flow into their properties and their businesses,” adding “When you look at the laws they basically favour – I’m talking about the richer countries as a whole – they tend to favour the crooks. It is so complicated to get your money back.”

According to Declassified, the points made by Khan in the documentary, despite being daring, were not unique. Arshad Sharif, a Pakistani investigative journalist, made a similar comment in an interview prior to his assassination in October of 2022.

Sharif said, in reference to the successor of Khan Shehbaz Sharif, “Those in power, they think that they can get away with the crimes they have done. And the Sharif family has been benefiting from this because of their international friends, who have been coming to their rescue to strike the dirty deals.”