A senior U.S. official on Tuesday publicly defended Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, emphasizing that all allegations against him were “categorically false.”
Lu was a frequent target of former prime minister Imran Khan, who accused him of orchestrating the no-confidence vote that led to his ouster in April 2022. According to Khan, Lu had conveyed to Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed that ties with Washington could not improve so long as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief remained in power. Khan alleges that the military brass then sought his ouster on the basis of this conversation. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly denied these allegations, though has shied from directly naming Lu.
“We have communicated this publicly and privately,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Horst told an event on the future of Pakistan-U.S. Relations in Houston, while referring to Khan’s allegations against Lu. Stressing that the U.S. does not favor any Pakistani political candidate or party over any other, she said she hoped to “address disinformation” about the role of the U.S. in Pakistani politics.
“We do not let propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation get in the way of any bilateral relationship, including our valued partnership with Pakistan,” she said. “We are prepared to work with any government chosen by the Pakistani people,” she said, adding that Washington supported “democratic principles, freedom of expression, and rule of law equally and around the world.”
During her address, Horst said the Joe Biden-led administration’s focus was “on people, investment, economy, climate, and prosperity.” She also referred to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks marking the 75th diplomatic anniversary of Pak-U.S. relations last year, saying: “We will continue to stand by Pakistan, its people, today and in the days to come, because that’s what we’ve done for each other in both directions through much of our shared history.”