By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday decided to initiate legal action against former prime minister Imran Khan and his party’s senior leaders over audio leaks in which the PTI chief could allegedly be heard discussing the controversial US cypher and how to exploit it to portray his ouster as a conspiracy.
Two audio recordings have been circulating on social media since Tuesday where 69-year-old Khan can be heard discussing a diplomatic communication with leaders and giving directions about how to use it for political objectives.
The cable based on a meeting of US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu with Pakistan ambassador in Washington Asad Majeed reportedly involves the US official discussing the political situation in Pakistan. Taking notice of the leaks, the cabinet of coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee on September 30.
The committee in a meeting on Saturday recommended legal action against those featuring in the leaked audio tapes with proposals presented in the form of a summary before the cabinet for approval.
The cabinet approved the summary through circulation on Sunday. The Cabinet tasked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the diplomatic cipher audio leaks following the committee’s recommendation.
“This is a matter of national security which could have possible adverse effects on the country’s interest,” the cabinet stated in a notification. It said that legal action was “necessary” and the FIA should form a committee comprising senior officials to probe the matter.
“The FIA team should take action against offenders as per law,” the cabinet recommended in the summary.
In the two audio leaks, Khan, ex-minister Asad Umar, and then-principal secretary Azam Khan could allegedly be heard discussing the US cypher in a meeting and how to use it in their interest.
In the first audio that was leaked on Wednesday, Khan was reportedly talking to Azam and directing him to play with the cypher. In the second audio clip, three PTI party leaders, including Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Azam, could be heard talking about the American cypher with the party’s chairman.
Khan used the cypher to build a powerful narrative that his government was toppled in April due to a foreign conspiracy with the help of local collaborators. However, his stance came under scanner after audio leaks of a secret meeting held at the PM Office surfaced.
Former foreign minister Qureshi in his reaction said that the government action to hold the probe endorsed his party’s stance that the cypher was real and led to the toppling of Khan’s government. “We never took a step that harmed the interests of Pakistan. We served this country with dignity and will continue doing so,” he tweeted.
Khan has accused Lu of threatening Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US that a failure to remove Khan through a no-confidence vote would herald “consequences” for Pakistan. Khan was ousted in April in a no-confidence vote in the parliament.
Meanwhile, Islamabad High Court (IHC) has approved bail for Khan a day after an arrest warrant was issued against him for remarks against police officials and a female judge made at a public rally last month.
The IHC also instructed Khan to appear in court on October 7.
The warrant was issued after the former prime minister failed to appear for a hearing in the case at a sessions court in the capital city.
Hundreds of Khan’s supporters from his party had gathered outside his home in Islamabad and thousands protested across different cities in the wake of the warrant.
Khan has also been charged with contempt of court by the IHC for the August 20 rally, when he threatened action during a rally against Judge Zeba Chaudhry and senior Islamabad police officials for arresting his chief of staff Shahbaz Gill. Khan has accused authorities of torturing Gill in custody.
Khan denies he threatened officials, saying his words were taken out of context. The court deferred the contempt proceedings against the former prime minister after he said he was willing to apologise for his remarks against the judge. Gill was charged with attempting to incite a mutiny in Pakistan’s powerful military during a TV talk show in August.
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