Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on July 26 summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to appear before it on August 1 in a case related to the diplomatic cable saga – a cypher what the former premier claimed contains details of a threat made by the US against his Government, Geo News reported.
Imran Khan was removed from the office in April last year. In a public gathering on March 2022, Imran Khan waived a letter claiming that it was evidence of the “international conspiracy” backed by the US to topple his Government. A day earlier also, the FIA has grilled the ex-Prime Minister for nearly two hours and recorded his statement in the case.
In the fresh notice, the investigation agency asked Imran Khan to appear before its joint investigation team at noon on August 1 with all the relevant documents, according to Geo News.
Earlier this week, the federal agency interrogated PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for nearly two hours in connection with its ongoing probe into the controversial US cypher.
The cypher drama took a new turn last week when PTI Chief’s aide Azam Khan recorded a statement before the magistrate and revealed that the then-Prime Minister (Imran Khan), in 2022, used a diplomatic cypher sent by Pakistan’s envoy to Washington to concoct a narrative against the establishment and the Opposition, Geo News reported.
Azam Khan, who had been “missing” since last month, recorded his statement under CrPC 164 before a magistrate, sources said.
After his statement on the cypher case, the former Prime Minister said that he would not comment on the matter until the complete information comes out. He said that it’s not known yet in what circumstances Azam Khan made these statements, according to ARY News.
However, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asserted that the confessional statement of ex-principal secretary Azam Khan was a ‘charge sheet’ against PTI chief Imran Khan and the latter should be punished for anti-state cypher drama.
“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman [Imran Khan] tarnished the reputation of state institutions through cypher conspiracy. He should be punished for staging the drama,” Geo News quoted Sanaullah as saying.
He further said that the cypher conspiracy made it clear that May 9 incident was the continuation of the same plot.
“PTI chairman will be held accountable for this crime. This is a matter of national interest,” Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah added, as per Geo News.
The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan, just days before his ouster, brandished a letter, claiming that it was a cypher from a foreign nation, which mentioned that his Government should be removed from power.
Imran Khan did not reveal the contents of the letter nor mention the name of the nation that had sent it. But a few days later, he named the United States and said that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.
The cypher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Asad Majeed’s meeting with Lu.
The former Prime Minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cypher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.
Then on March 31, the NSC took up the matter and decided to issue a “strong demarche” to the country for its “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.
Later, after his removal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which came to the conclusion that it had found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cypher.
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