Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Imran Khan's PTI hired CIA veteran to lobby, manage US ties: Reports

Robert Laurent Grenier of Grenier Consulting LLC was hired last year when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was still in power.

Imran Khan's PTI hired CIA veteran to lobby, manage US ties: Reports

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), when in power, took the aid of a former CIA veteran in order to lobby and manage Islamabad's ties with the US, local media said citing reports.

With this, an American consulting firm Grenier Consulting LLC, run by the Central Investigation Agency ex-station chief in Islamabad, has come into the limelight, reported Pakistan's local media outlet The News International. Robert Laurent Grenier of Grenier Consulting LLC was hired last year when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was still in power.


The agreement with the firm was signed by former Special Assistant to PM Imran Khan on media Iftikharur Rehman Durrani in July 2021 under the "supervision of senior [PTI] party officials and under the direction of Pakistan government officials."

Grenier is a CIA veteran who was also the CIA station chief in Islamabad during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and later served as the agency's top counter-terrorism official from 2004 to 2006.

As per the Foreign Agents Registration Act documents, the contract between the firm and Durrani, on behalf of the PTI government, was signed for six months initially from May 1 to October 2021 for USD 25,000 per month.

In order to confirm the reports, Grenier was reached out however, he was not available for comment and to confirm if the contract was terminated or not.

According to the documents, the firm was to "maintain contacts with US government officials of both the executive and legislative branches, as well as with think tanks and other informed individuals, in addition to consulting with the client and the client's associates, to determine how the scope of constructive relations between the US government and the government of Pakistan might be enhanced and will advise his Pakistani client and the client's associates accordingly, both through verbal and written communications."

It further highlights that the firm "will engage and consult with informed individuals in both the public and private sectors in both the US and Pakistan to make determinations as to how constructive relations between the US and Pakistan might be enhanced and provide advice to the client and his associates as to how this might be accomplished."

Hiring such lobbying firms to extend or propagate an entity's interests is a routine exercise in the US.

In addition to the CIA officer's lobbying firm, earlier this month PTI-USA Inc, a subsidiary of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, hired Fenton/Arlook to provide "public relations services, including but not limited to distributing information to and briefing journalists, placing articles and broadcasts, arranging interviews with representatives or supporters of PTI, advising on social media efforts and other such public relations services."

(ANI)

More For You

Air India

The Amritsar-Birmingham and Amritsar-London Gatwick routes will each increase from three to four weekly flights, while Ahmedabad-London Gatwick will go from three to five weekly flights.

Air India to increase flights between UK and India from March 30

AIR INDIA will increase flight frequencies on key routes as part of its Northern Summer schedule, effective 30 March 2025.

In the UK, the airline will add three more flights on the Delhi-London Heathrow route, increasing from 21 to 24 weekly flights using a mix of A350-900 and upgraded B787-9 aircraft.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pablo-Escobar-merchandise-Getty

Escobar, killed by security forces in 1993, remains a figure of global interest, with his image appearing on souvenirs like T-shirts, mugs, and keychains. (Photo: Getty Images)

Colombia considers ban on Pablo Escobar merchandise

COLOMBIA’s Congress is considering a bill that would ban the sale of merchandise featuring drug lord Pablo Escobar and other convicted criminals.

The proposed law aims to curb the glorification of Escobar, who was responsible for thousands of deaths during his time leading the Medellín cartel, reported BBC.

Keep ReadingShow less
Assisted dying bill: Judge approval scrapped for expert panel safeguard

Polls show most Britons back assisted dying, with supporters calling for the law to reflect public opinion.

Assisted dying bill: Judge approval scrapped for expert panel safeguard

Eastern Eye

THE proposed new assisted dying law for terminally ill people will be amended to remove the requirement that a high court judge sign off on each case, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said on Tuesday (11).

Opponents of assisted dying said the change would weaken the safeguards around protecting vulnerable people from being coerced or pressured into taking their own lives.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Malkinson

Malkinson, 59, has been struggling financially since his release and has been on universal credit for 19 months. (Photo: X/@NotThatBigIan)

Wrongful rape conviction: Andrew Malkinson to get 'significant' compensation

ANDREW MALKINSON, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, will receive a six-figure interim compensation payment from the Ministry of Justice.

The payment comes more than a year after his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in July 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
IMF team visits Pakistan to assess governance and corruption reforms

The assessment will shape structural reforms and examine protections for property rights and foreign investments

IMF team visits Pakistan to assess governance and corruption reforms

Eastern Eye

A TECHNICAL team from the International Monetary Fund met Pakistan’s chief justice Yahya Afridi on Tuesday (11) to conduct a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment under the 2024 Extended Fund Facility programme.

The IMF team is in the country for a week-long trip to scrutinise the judicial and regulatory framework tackling governance and corruption as part of a £5.6 billion loan agreed last year.

Keep ReadingShow less