Massive crime if contents of leaked state document true: Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that if the contents of a diplomatic cable sent to Islamabad last year by Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States were true as being purported by a US media outlet, then it was tantamount to a “massive crime”.

In an interview with a local media outlet on Thursday, Shehbaz was asked whether the international news story proved the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief’s claims that the US had a role to play in his ouster through a vote of no confidence in April 2022.

Shehbaz replied in the negative and referred to two meetings of the National Security Committee that were held on the cypher controversy under his 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 that former chief of army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other high ranking officials had also confirmed that there was no foreign conspiracy against Pakistan.

To drive his point home, Shehbaz recalled that while the PTI chief claimed that such a conspiracy was hatched because of his diplomatic ties with Russia against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government purchased cheap oil from Russia.

“If God forbid this government was formed through a US conspiracy, then it would have been a moment of shame for us,” said Shehbaz.

The PM further drew attention to the PTI chief’s own statements in which he retracted from his narrative and absolved the US of blame in the alleged conspiracy.

Shehbaz asked the interviewer whether the PTI chief’s first statement is to be believed as true or the second.

“In itself, if the contents of the cypher are published [by the foreign media outlet]and are if true, then it is a massive crime,” he said.

The PM termed Imran’s conspiracy allegations a “bunch of lies” and stressed the efforts made by the coalition government in the past year and a half to mend ties with the US and other “brotherly countries” like Saudi Arabia, which the PTI chief had soured.

‘Treacherous, seditious act’

Meanwhile, PML-N stalwart and former interior minister Rana Sanaullah has called for a probe to determine the authenticity of the purported Pakistani state document reproduced by the US media outlet, reported Express News on Thursday.

Sanaullah took to Twitter to state that if the PTI chief is found guilty of leaking the notorious diplomatic cable he should be tried under the Official Secrets Act, which has recently been amended.

“Though there is nothing new in this story, the investigation needs to held to establish the authenticity of the information or source document. Potentially, it is a very sinister, treacherous, and seditious act,” wrote Sanaullah.

“It should not be forgotten that Imran Khan Niazi had a copy of the cypher, which he has not returned and has accepted (on record) that he misplaced or lost it. If proven guilty, Khan should be tried under the Official Secret Act,” he added.

Cypher-gate

The cypher has been a source of controversy in Pakistan for months with Imran claiming that his ouster through a vote of no confidence was part of a foreign conspiracy and the Pakistan Democratic Movement allied parties repeatedly denying this claim.

Read: Govt denies political motive for Imran’s arrest

The United States has also denied its involvement in Pakistan’s political affairs and Imran has since taken back his allegations against Washington, choosing to level blame of the alleged conspiracy onto the PML-N-led PDM government and former chief of army staff.

Last month, a document was circulated on social media containing an alleged statement by Imran’s former aide Azam Khan, which claimed that Imran used the cypher to build a false narrative to serve his political purpose.

The same was later touted by Sanaullah as sufficient evidence for legal proceedings against the former premier and then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi for allegedly making a state document public.

The Federal Investigation Agency is currently probing the matter and has questioned PTI leaders Qureshi and Asad Umar in this regard.

Meanwhile, the PTI chief was arrested on August 5, 2023 for the second time in three months after a district and sessions court in Islamabad convicted him in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Neither the PTI chief nor his legal representatives were in the courtroom when the verdict was issued.