Pakistan minister quits after making overthrow plot claims

The Pakistani government says a senior Cabinet minister has resigned from his post.

   

The government says the resignation came  after the minister  claimed in an interview that the country's former spy master Zaheerul Islam wanted to overthrow Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through violent rallies in Islamabad last year.

Pakistan Minister of Information Pervez Rashid says Mushahidullah Khan submitted his resignation Saturday. It was not clear whether Sharif would accept Khan's resignation.

Khan is a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N party.

His resignation came after he told the BBC that Islam was behind last year's anti-government rallies organized by opposition leader Imran Khan. Three people were killed and more than 500 wounded in the two months of protests.

The military denied Mushahidullah Khan's claim and Sharif's government said it was not aware of any such conspiracy.