(MENAFN- Live Mint) Former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou has stirred new controversy after alleging that Imran Khan' s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, tried to pressure him into apologising for remarks he maintains were simply his analysis of the conventional military capabilities of Delhi and Islamabad.

Kiriakou said that when he received a letter from Pakistan demanding an apology, he responded bluntly, telling them he would treat the letter with utter disregard.

Also Read | How is Pak after Operation Sindoor? Islamabad is 'learning lessons'. Here's how

After that, he said, the PTI never contacted him again.

Kiriakou had shared his analysis of the India-Pakistan conflict during an interview with ANI in October.

He mentioned,“Pakistan would be on the losing side” and that a war between the two nations would bring no positive outcome.“Nothing-absolutely nothing-good will come from a direct conflict between India and Pakistan, because Pakistan will lose. And I'm not referring to nuclear weapons, but strictly to a conventional war,” he stated.

Kiriakou's remarks triggered widespread backlash and online abuse from people in Pakistan. What affected him most, however, was a letter from the president of Imran Khan's party, PTI, led by former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi since March 2023.

(WKiriakou said the letter condemned his remarks“in the strongest possible terms” and demanded“an immediate apology to His Excellency, the former Prime Minister (Imran Khan), the party members (PTI), and the people of Pakistan.”

Although his lawyer had advised him to“throw it away”, Kiriakou did the exact opposite. He revealed during the interview that he replied to the“threatening” email, and he did it in a harsh manner, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

Also Read | Trump not so 'sharif'? US Prez makes Pak PM wait for 60 minutes ahead of meeting

“I sent him an email and I said, 'In regards to your demand for an apology, I wipe my a** with your demands for an apology.' And I hit send, and that's how I left it, and I haven't heard back from them,” he said.

Also Read | Jihadi militants paid by USAID to oust Sheikh Hasina from B'desh, claims ex-min Who is John Kiriakou?

Kiriakou joined the CIA in 1990, initially serving as an analyst before becoming a case officer. After the September 11, 2001, attack, he was appointed chief of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan.

In that role, he led the 2002 raid that captured Abu Zubaydah, then believed to be al-Qaeda's third-ranking official. He has stated that he declined CIA training in“enhanced interrogation techniques” (euphemism for torture methods like waterboarding). He left the agency in 2004 after 15 years of service.

Also Read | Joe Biden says his late son came back from Iraq war with stage four cancer cause

In a 2007 ABC News interview, Kiriakou became the first US official to confirm the CIA's use of waterboarding on detainees, describing it as torture and revealing it as official policy approved by then-President George W. Bush.

(With inputs from agencies)

MENAFN21112025007365015876ID1110380721