الرئيسية
Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician who is gaining support
in Pakistan, rebutted charges he is anti-West and said his vision for
an Islamic society looked like Scandinavia.
Khan, who has drawn
hundreds of thousands of followers in recent months after years in the
political wilderness, reiterated his staunch criticism of the US
campaign against Islamic extremists as he addressed a forum in
Washington on Friday.
But he rejected perceptions that his views
are anti-Western. Khan, an Oxford graduate who was formerly married to
writer Jemima Khan, said he was one of the few Pakistani politicians to
have spent substantial time in the West.
"To be anti-Western makes
absolutely no sense at all. The West is geography. How can you be
anti-geography?" Khan told the Atlantic Council, a think-tank, via
Internet video provider Skype.
"And to be anti-American... how can you be anti-a whole country, where there are so many different views?" he said.
"I have always been anti-the American war on terror. I have always thought that this was an insane war," Khan said.
A
decade after Pakistan reluctantly supported the US-led campaign against
Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, Khan said that his country was
far more radicalized and that billions of dollars had been wasted.
in Pakistan, rebutted charges he is anti-West and said his vision for
an Islamic society looked like Scandinavia.
Khan, who has drawn
hundreds of thousands of followers in recent months after years in the
political wilderness, reiterated his staunch criticism of the US
campaign against Islamic extremists as he addressed a forum in
Washington on Friday.
But he rejected perceptions that his views
are anti-Western. Khan, an Oxford graduate who was formerly married to
writer Jemima Khan, said he was one of the few Pakistani politicians to
have spent substantial time in the West.
"To be anti-Western makes
absolutely no sense at all. The West is geography. How can you be
anti-geography?" Khan told the Atlantic Council, a think-tank, via
Internet video provider Skype.
"And to be anti-American... how can you be anti-a whole country, where there are so many different views?" he said.
"I have always been anti-the American war on terror. I have always thought that this was an insane war," Khan said.
A
decade after Pakistan reluctantly supported the US-led campaign against
Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, Khan said that his country was
far more radicalized and that billions of dollars had been wasted.