ISLAMABAD: Former special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari and the Foreign Office denied reports that he had secretly visited Israel “to pass on a message of an important person.”
“[I] did not go to Israel. Funny bit is Pakistani paper says I went to Israel based on “Israeli news source” and Israeli paper says I went to Israel based on a “Pakistani source” — wonder who this imaginative Pakistani source is,” Bukhari tweeted while rejecting the media reports.
He quipped that “apparently” he was the “only one” who has “kept out of the loop” regarding his visit.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has also rejected the reports regarding Bukhari’s visit to Israel.
“These reports are baseless and misleading. No such visit to Israel has been undertaken,” said FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri. He also informed the media that Bukhari has also issued a rejection of the report.
The spokesperson also said that the FO had also rebutted “similar false reports” on December 18 of last year.
A day earlier, Israeli paper Israel Hayom had claimed that Bukhari flew to Israel from London. The report claimed that Bukhari arrived at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport and was later transferred to Tel Aviv.
The report claimed that the former SAPM during his visit had met Israeli foreign ministry officials as well as Mossad Director Yossi Cohen in Tel Aviv.
It claimed that the former aide of PM Imran Khan had gone to Israel to pass on a message from an “important person”.
The Israeli publication, citing a “source in Islamabad” said Bukhari had visited the country on his British passport due to “heavy pressure” from the United Arab Emirates.
The report also claimed that the visit came as the two countries are expected to participate in joint naval exercises with US Navy in the Black Sea.
The news was also shared on social media by the editor of another Israeli newspaper.
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