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August 11 , 2023
Massive Crime if Contents of Leaked ‘Cipher’ True, Says PM Shehbaz
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that if the alleged contents of a diplomatic cipher — which ex-premier Imran Khan cited as proof of a conspiracy to remove his government — published in a US-based news organization were true, it was tantamount to a “massive crime”.
The purported cipher — sent to Islamabad last year by Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US — contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan, and was reproduced on Wednesday by The Intercept .
As per the purported contents of the cable, the US objected to Imran Khan’s foreign policy regarding the Ukraine war.
Dawn was unable to independently verify whether the contents of the cable reported by the US-based publication were indeed authentic. But the US State Department — while refraining from commenting on the veracity of the published cable — said its contents did not show the US taking a position on who the leader of Pakistan should be.
Although The Intercept has claimed in its report that they were provided with the document by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military “who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or [Mr] Khan’s party,” many believe that the source of the leak could be the PTI itself.
As per protocol, only a handful of key officials had access to the confidential document. These included the foreign minister, the prime minister and the army chief.
The timing of the purported cable’s publication also seems quite significant, as it comes in the wake of the imprisonment of Imran Khan over charges of graft in the Toshakhana case.
In an interview with WE News , PM Shehbaz was asked if The Intercept story proved Imran’s claims regarding the cipher and the foreign conspiracy.
“The answer to your question is that two meetings of the National Security Committee were held on the cipher under my leadership. In one of the meetings, former ambassador and Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed clearly stated that there was no discussion of a conspiracy in his meeting with Donald Lu,” the outgoing premier said.
He said former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and other service chiefs also confirmed that there was no conspiracy against Pakistan, adding that Majeed too had stated that there was no question of a conspiracy at all.
“Imran Niazi said that this conspiracy was hatched because of his growing relations with Russia … but my government purchased cheap oil from Russia.
“If God forbid this government had come from a US conspiracy, then it would have been a moment of shame for us,” PM Shehbaz asserted.
He also recalled that Imran had himself retracted from his narrative and said that the US never hatched any conspiracy. “Will you consider Imran Niazi’s first statement genuine or the other one?” the prime minister asked, adding that the PTI chairman’s statements were poles apart.
“Can a former prime minister spew hatred against the country to this extent?
“In itself, if the contents of the cipher are published (in the international newspaper), and are if true, then it is a massive crime,” he added.
PM Shehbaz reiterated that Imran’s conspiracy allegations were a “bunch of lies” from “head to toe” and there was no reality in them.
He went on to say that the coalition government worked tirelessly to mend US-Pakistan relations, which he said were damaged during the PTI tenure, and establish mutual respect and trust.
In response to a question on Pakistan’s soured relations with other “brotherly countries”, PM Shehbaz said the Imran-led government had made Saudi Arabia upset.
“I can’t go into details, but to demean Saudi Arabia, efforts were made to form a bloc to isolate Saudi Arabia,” he claimed, adding that it was “shameful” that a country that had helped Pakistan over all these years was treated in such a way.
Later, he expressed similar views on Geo News show ‘Capital Talk’, saying had the US aided his government in coming to power, “we should have received help from the West on matters with the IMF (International Monetary Fund)”.
When pointed out that other nations had come to Pakistan’s help regarding the IMF deal when the country was at the brink of default but not the US, the premier replied, “But they also did not oppose [the deal].”
PTI demands formation of Judicial Commission
Meanwhile, the PTI said the cipher story had “irrevocably established the credibility and justness” of the stance Imran Khan had reiterated regarding developments leading to the removal of his government through a no-confidence vote.
“At the meeting of the National Security Committee that Khan convened to discuss the matter, it was concluded that the cypher communication ‘amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question which was unacceptable in any circumstances’.
“‘The NSC also decided to issue a demarche to the country in question, both in Islamabad and the country’s capital through a proper channel in keeping with diplomatic norms’,” the party said in a statement released by its Central Media Department.
The PTI recalled that the subsequent meeting of the NSC — presided over by PM Shehbaz — “reaffirmed the decisions of the previous meeting”… - Dawn
Courtesy Dawn