ISLAMABAD: The hackers continued to release the leaked audios of high-profile personalities of the country, as a purported audio containing alleged conversations between former prime minister Imran Khan and his then principal secretary Azam Khan also went viral on Wednesday, discussing the diplomatic cypher which the former premier had been using as a “proof” of his ouster through a “foreign conspiracy”.
The audio, allegedly featuring Imran Khan and another person believed to be Azam Khan, the two can be heard discussing the diplomatic cypher which Khan had been presenting as an evidence of an alleged “US conspiracy” behind ouster of his government through a vote of no confidence in April this year.
In the leaked audio clip, a person, believed to be Imran Khan can be heard saying: “We only have to play on this. We don’t have to name any America …We only have to play with this, that this date was written before.”
The second voice, believed to be of Azam Khan, can be heard saying; “Sir, I was thinking that a meeting should be called on the cypher. I think there should be a meeting (on it). See, if you recall, the ambassador had written in the end to make a demarche. Even if the demarche is not to be made, as I have thought a lot about it at night…you said they raised it. I thought about how to cover all this.”
“But not, I thought how to cover it? Call a meeting and call Shah Mahmood Qureshi (then foreign minister) and foreign secretary (Sohail Mahmood). Qureshi will read out the letter and whatever Qureshi reads out in the meeting, it will be changed in the copy and then I will make the minutes that the foreign secretary has (actually) stated all these,” the second voice, allegedly of Azam Khan, can further be heard as saying.
The voice further states that the analysis would be conducted and converted into minutes “as we want so that it becomes part of the record.”
“Then the minutes will be drafted of our own (will). And the analysis would be that it’s a threat and in diplomatic language it’s called a threat…the minutes will be in my hand,” the second voice further stated.
He is then asked by the first voice, allegedly of Imran Khan, “who else would be attending the meeting, besides the two of them – Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the foreign secretary (Sohail Mahmood)?” The second voice responded in affirmative.
“All right then, let’s hold this meeting tomorrow,” the first voice, allegedly Imran Khan’s stated.
The first voice can be heard saying: “See, if we do this, then things will come on record. Right now, he is …for the state and when he will read it out, I will copy them easily so it will become part of the record. You should also call the foreign secretary so that this thing can be highlighted at the bureaucratic level, not just the political one. You understand what I’m saying”.
“The ambassador wrote it himself,” the first voice responded. “We don’t have the copy right now. How did they take it (cable) out?” asked the second voice.
“This was raised from here. He did it. But anyhow, it is a foreign conspiracy,” the first voice can be heard saying.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also reacted to the leaked audio, as party chairman Imran Khan accused Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to be behind the leak. In an informal media talk, he termed this as a “good thing”, adding that the cypher itself should be leaked to the public.
“Well done on leaking it. I would say the cypher should get leaked too…So everyone knows what a big foreign conspiracy was made,” he said. “I haven’t even played on it (cipher) as yet. Now, we will play when they are exposed,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022