Reham Khan, a former TV anchor and ex-wife of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, has clarified that she has left Pakistan temporarily due to various reasons and will return to the country after a book she has been working on is published.

Reham told DawnNews that she is currently in the UK "temporarily", "for the security of my kids" and wants to settle her children there and publish her book.

"I have not left the country. When the book is published, I will return to Pakistan."

The former TV presenter said the editing and writing of her book have been completed and she is only waiting for it to be published.

Talking about the book, Reham said it is mainly about her life as a journalist and mother, but mentioned that the PTI chief features in it because he was once a part of her life, "albeit an unpleasant one".

Media reports had earlier claimed that Reham had left the country "amid threats by unknown individuals".

The news of her departure came in the wake of a recent interview she gave to India TV, in which she commented on her former husband's alleged third marriage.

"There is no specific threat," Reham clarified today. She, however, claimed that a cricketer from the national team had been "constantly trying to contact me".

She claimed that when she finally spoke to the player, he told her to "stop saying what you are saying about Imran."

Reham further alleged that after their divorce, Khan had sent her a message stating, "You should leave for the UK and give the impression that your kids could not be settled here [Pakistan]."

Terming it a "masked threat", she said she "know[s] the ability of these people [PTI members]".

See: Imran’s ‘threatening’ one-liner startles journalists

Reham said people had been linking her to the PML-N after her recent statements, but a senior leader from the ruling party had called her this week and suggested that she stop talking about Khan.

She said other senior PML-N leaders had also asked her to keep mum about Khan.

"They had also asked me to stay quiet on the Ayesha Gulalai [harrassment] issue," she told DawnNews.

Responding to her allegation, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said her claims were "rubbish".

"The threat [allegedly issued by Khan] was so effective that she lived in Pakistan for two years [after the divorce] and only in elections year she remembered the threat and that too just before [the] launch of her 'sponsored' book," he told DawnNews.

"PTI is not MQM [Muttahida Qaumi Movement] and we have no militant groups or the Punjab police at our disposal."

GeoNews, late Sunday night, said that Reham, while speaking to anchorperson Muneeb Farooq, had "confirmed she had left Pakistan on Sunday night and was receiving threats through phone calls made to her staff".

The publication added that Reham had also reportedly shared a voice recording of the coordinator of Reham Khan Foundation telling her that he had received threats for working for the foundation.

On Twitter, Reham did not mention leaving the country; she, however, did share journalist Murtaza Solangi's tweet in which he expressed shock over her "leaving the country".


With additional reporting by Fahad Chaudhry in Islamabad.

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