As audios of high-profile figures continue to leak, a voiceover of former prime minister Imran Khan allegedly telling his then principal secretary Azam Khan to “play” with US ciphers has surfaced.
In audio purportedly featuring Khan, a man can be heard talking about a cipher that Khan has repeatedly claimed is a “threat” to topple his government.
Khan reportedly told Azam in the audio – the date of which cannot be determined at this time – to “let’s just play with the cipher” and not mention the US by name.
In response, Azam describes a scheme to Khan on how to use the cipher to further the PTI’s political agenda – and in it, he also suggests using Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood so that the matter ” can be highlighted at the bureaucratic level.
In July, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi warned that the audio would surface and PTI responded to the blog by saying it would “not sit idly by” if it did.
This development has come after the audio of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was leaked last week.
PTI demands release of cipher
PTI senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry reacted to the development, saying that “the new leaks only confirm that the US cable has been tried to hide from [the then] Prime Minister [Imran Khan]. “
نئ لیکس سے صرف یہ کنفرم ہوتا ہے کہ امریکی مراسلہ وزیر اعظم سے چھپانے کی کوشش کی گئ
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 28, 2022
PTI leader Hammad Azhar said when Imran Khan was the prime minister, his government was removed following the “exact same script as was given in the cypher”.
“Let that sink in,” he said.
When Imran Khan was PM, his govt was removed following the exact same script as was given in the cipher. Let that sink in.
— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) September 28, 2022
I think the cipher should be released now and the people of Pakistan should decide whether it was a conspiracy or even more than that. https://t.co/kCpw8WzPEr
I think Cypher should be released now and the people of Pakistan should decide whether it was a conspiracy or something more.
Transcript
Imran Khan: Okay, so now let’s play with it. We don’t need to name America. We’ll just play on it and say that history already existed.
Azam Khan: Sir, I was thinking that we should have a meeting on this cyber issue. If you remember, the ambassador said in the last part of the letter that we should issue a demarche. If you still don’t want to issue the demarche, because I thought about it last night….how can we cover this? Let’s call a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Foreign Secretary (Sohail Mehmood). There we will ask Shah Mehmood Qureshi to read out the letter. So whatever he tells us, I’ll type and turn it into the [meeting] minutes that the foreign minister said this and the foreign secretary said that. After that, we will write the analysis as we see fit, so it will become part of the record. In the analysis, we would say that the language used [in the letter] is considered a threat in diplomatic principles…….and things like that. See, I have the minutes of the meeting, we can draft them as we wish.
Imran Khan: So who should be invited to this meeting? Shah Mehmood [Foreign Minister], you [Azam], me [Imran], and Sohail [Foreign Secretary].
Azam Khan: [Yes,] That’s it.
Imran Khan: Okay, let’s have this meeting tomorrow.
Azam Khan: [So look, if we do that] things will come on record. He is currently in the consulate of the state and when he reads it out I will simply copy it so that it becomes part of the record. You should also call the foreign secretary so that this matter can be highlighted not only at the bureaucratic level but also at the political level. You understand what I’m saying.
Imran Khan: The ambassador himself wrote
Azam Khan: Currently we do not have a copy. How did they get it [the cable] out?
Imran Khan: It was raised from here. He did. But anyway, this is a foreign conspiracy.
