Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The United States embassy in Islamabad on Wednesday apologised for retweeting an “unauthorised” post about the premier by PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal.
“The US embassy Islamabad Twitter account was accessed last night without authorisation. The US embassy does not endorse the posting or retweeting of political messages. We apologise for any confusion that may have resulted from the unauthorised post,” the embassy said on its Twitter account.
The whole saga started after Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday posted a screenshot on the social networking site of an article by The Washington Post titled “Trump’s defeat is a blow for the world’s demagogues and dictators”.
“We have one in Pakistan too. He will be shown the way out soon,” Iqbal said in his tweet, in what was an apparent reference to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The sharing of Iqbal’s tweet by the US embassy’s Twitter account quickly sparked outrage, as government officials, including a federal minister and the Sindh governor, called upon the embassy to respect diplomatic norms and issue an apology.
“US embassy still working in Trumpian mode in support of convicted absconder and intervening brazenly in our internal politics,” Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said before the embassy issued an apology.
“Monroe doctrine also died centuries ago! US embassy must observe norms of diplomacy,” she said. The minister also expressed her dissatisfaction with the apology issued by the US embassy.