If alleged contents of a diplomatic cipher published in a US-based news organisation were true, it was tantamount to a ‘massive crime’: PM Shehabz

ISLAMABAD, August 10 (SABAH): Prime Minister Mian Muhammad 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 organisation were true, it was tantamount to a “massive crime”.

In an interview with “WE News” on Thursday, PM Shehbaz Sharif was asked if “The Intercept” story proved Imran Khan’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 Khan 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 General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other services chiefs also confirmed that there was no conspiracy against Pakistan, adding that Asad 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 Sharif asserted.

He also recalled that Imran Khan 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 Sharif reiterated that Imran Khan’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 Sharif 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 block 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.

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’,” PTI said in a statement released by its Central Media Department.

The PTI recalled that the subsequent meeting of the NSC — presided by PM Shehbaz — “reaffirmed the decisions of the previous meeting”.

“From denying the cipher’s existence to calling it meaningless to blaming Khan for making it public, the ruling clique took one somersault after the other to mitigate its importance and relevance. It is important that the cipher debate should now be put in its right perspective and acknowledge that intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs had indeed taken place which led to the moving of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan,” the statement said.

It further demanded that a “high-powered judicial commission” should be constituted to investigate the issue and make its findings public.