KARACHI: Newly declassified emails in the latest Jeffrey Epstein file release reveal a 2013 effort to leverage Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s social influence years before he became Pakistan’s prime minister.
A June 2013 email from former UN official Nasra Hassan to Norwegian diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen, then president of the International Peace Institute, described Khan as a “London society lion” and highlighted his potential role in promoting Western-backed health initiatives in Pakistan.
The email suggested that Khan, then an opposition politician and former cricket star, could be a “more effective interlocutor” for sensitive diplomacy on polio eradication than Pakistan’s newly appointed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. At the time, PTI had just assumed control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where polio remained a challenge.
The correspondence also referenced discussions involving Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Afghanistan’s then-president Hamid Karzai, reflecting international engagement in health initiatives in the region.
The documents were released Friday by the US Department of Justice as part of its investigation into Epstein’s financial and professional network.