Azam Khan, former principal secretary to the PTI Chairman and Former Prime Minister Imran Khan alleged on Wednesday that the former PM used U.S. cypher for ‘political gain’ and to avert a no-confidence vote.
Former PM Imran Khan earned massive public support by claiming that his ouster was the result of an underground conspiracy. In March last year, Khan displayed a “threat letter,” a diplomatic code, that he claimed was used to overthrow his government.
Azam Khan, Imran Khan’s ex-secretary, who has been “missing” since last month, has recorded his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate
On March 27, 2022, Imran Khan, who was ousted via a parliamentary vote in April last year, claimed that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office, and he displayed the cypher at the rally. US officials have repeatedly denied such allegations, calling them “categorically false”.
Azam claimed in his confession that when he shared the cypher with Imran, the former premier was “euphoric” and referred to the language as a “US blunder”.
According to Azam, the ex-prime minister then suggested using the cable to “create a narrative against the establishment and opposition”.
Azam also confessed that Imran Khan told him the cypher could be used to divert public attention to “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.
Imran told Azam he would display the cypher in front of the public to “twist the narrative to suggest a foreign conspiracy was being hatched with local partners and play the victim card”.
According to sources, when Azam told Imran Khan that the cypher was a secret document and its content couldn’t be revealed to the public, the then-premier proposed a formal meeting with then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and then-foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, “where they could review the cypher (since Imran Khan’s original copy was still lost) and make further decisions based on minutes of the meeting”.
According to the confession, the then-premier convened special meetings of the cabinet and National Security Division to discuss the cypher.
During his time as Imran’s principal secretary, he said the cypher had not been returned to the Prime Minister’s Office since Imran had lost the original.
