Azam Khan ‘records’ statement, terming US cypher a ‘conspiracy’ used by Imran Khan to ‘manipulate for creating a narrative against establishment & opposition’

ISLAMABAD, July 19 (SABAH): Former prime minister Imran Khan’s then-principal secretary Muhammad Azam Khan has “recorded” a statement, terming the US cypher a “conspiracy” used by the ex-PM to “manipulate for creating a narrative against establishment and opposition,”.

Muhammad Azam Khan, who has been “missing” since last month, has recorded his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate, the sources added, with no information on his whereabouts.

Imran Khan, ousted via a parliamentary vote in April last year, had alleged on March 27, 2022, that Washington orchestrated a plan to remove him from office — and brandished the cypher at a public rally to back his claims.

In his confession, Azam Khan claimed that when he shared the cypher with Imran Khan, the former premier was “euphoric” and termed the language as a “US blunder”.

The ex-prime minister then said, according to Azam, that the cable could be used for “creating a narrative against establishment and opposition”.

The confession mentions that Imran Khan also told Azam Khan that the cypher could be used to divert the public’s attention towards “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.

Azam’s confession mentions that Imran Khan told him he would display the cypher in front of the public and “twist the narrative that a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play [the] victim card”.

When Azam, according to the sources of a private TV channel, told Imran Khan that the cypher was a secret document and its content could not be disclosed before the public, the then-premier suggested a formal meeting with then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and then-foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood “where they can read the cypher from the foreign ministry’s copy (as Imran Khan’s original copy was still lost) and from minutes of the meeting further decision can be made”.

The confession mentioned that the then-premier decided to call special meetings of the cabinet and the National Security Division to discuss the cypher and note down the minutes of the meetings.

However, he mentioned that till the time he was Imran’s principal secretary, the cypher was not returned to the Prime Minister’s Office as Imran had lost the original document.

As per the confession, Khan also told Azam that the cypher could be used to divert the public’s attention towards “foreign involvement” in the opposition’s no-confidence motion.

The ex-premier told him [Azam] he would display the cypher in front of the public and “twist the narrative: a foreign conspiracy is being hatched in collusion with local partners and play [the] victim card”. The confession further stated that the former premier kept cypher with himself in violation of the prevailing law.