Leaked \u2018cipher\u2019 hints at US pressure over Russia visit<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON Aug 10 (Online): In a startling revelation, a US-based news organisation has published what it claims is the text of a diplomatic cipher, sent to Islamabad last year by Pakistan\u2019s former ambassador to the US and which former prime minister Imran Khan cited as proof of a US conspiracy to remove his government last year.<\/p>\n
The purported cipher contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan, and was reproduced on Wednesday by The Intercept.<\/p>\n
It was unable to independently verify whether the contents of the cable reported by the US-based publication were indeed authentic.
\nPakistan\u2019s Foreign Office spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told media the department \u201cdoes not comment on alleged leaks\u201d. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
But the US State Department \u2014 while refraining from commenting on the veracity of the published cable \u2014 said its contents did not show the US taking a position on who the leader of Pakistan should be.
\nAs per the purported contents of the cable, the US objected to Imran Khan\u2019s foreign policy regarding the Ukraine war.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon[ald Lu] referred to Pakistan\u2019s position on the Ukraine crisis and said that \u2018people here and in Europe are quite concerned about why Pakistan is taking such an aggressively neutral position (on Ukraine), if such a position is even possible. It does not seem such a neutral stand to us.\u2019 He shared that in his discussions with the NSC, \u2018it seems quite clear that this is the prime minister\u2019s policy\u2019,\u201d said the excerpt published by The Intercept.<\/p>\n
In response, Asad Majeed Khan said that this was not a correct reading of the situation as Pakistan\u2019s position on Ukraine was a result of intense interagency consultations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked Don[ald Lu] if the reason for a strong US reaction was Pakistan\u2019s abstention in the voting in the UNGA [United Nations General Assembly]. He categorically replied in the negative and said that it was due to the Prime Minister\u2019 visit to Moscow,\u201d The Intercept quoted from the purported cable.<\/p>\n
According to the text, Mr Lu then said \u201cI think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
These words were ostensibly the threat that the former PM alluded to when he claimed there was a US conspiracy to overthrow his government.
\n\u201cObviously there is no conspiracy, but for a US official to use these words is unacceptable,\u201d a senior diplomat commented, referring to Mr Lu\u2019s remark that \u201call will be forgiven\u201d if the vote of no confidence succeeds.<\/p>\n
The purported text of the cable details how Asad Majeed Khan tried to dispel the impression that Mr Khan\u2019s visit to the Russia was anything but a bilateral one that shouldn\u2019t be seen as an endorsement of Moscow\u2019s action against Ukraine. The ambassador also conveyed how there was also a \u201cfeeling that while the US expected Pakistan\u2019s support on all issues that were important to the US, it did not reciprocate and we do not see much US support on issues of concern for Pakistan, particularly on Kashmir.<\/p>\n
Asad Majeed Khan also asked the US diplomat that if Pakistan\u2019s position on Ukraine was so important to Washington, why it had not engaged with Islamabad prior to the Russia visit by then-PM Imran Khan.<\/p>\n
At this, Donald Lu replied that: \u201cThe thinking in Washington was that given the current political turmoil in Pakistan, this was not the right time for such engagement and it could wait till the political situation in Pakistan settled down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Subsequently, in his own assessment at the tail-end of the purported text of the cable, Asad Majeed Khan noted that Mr Lu could not have conveyed such a strong sentiment \u201cwithout the express approval of the White House, to which he referred repeatedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the envoy\u2019s own assessment, it was clear that Mr Lu \u201cspoke out of turn on Pakistan\u2019s internal political process. We need to seriously reflect on this and consider making an appropriate demarche\u201d to the US charge d\u2019affaires in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Although The Intercept has claimed in its report that they were provided with the document by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military \u201cwho said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or [Mr] Khan\u2019s party,\u201d many believe that the source of the leak could be the PTI itself.<\/p>\n
The timing of the purported cable\u2019s publication seems quite significant, as it comes in the wake of the imprisonment of Imran Khan over charges of graft in the Toshakhana case.<\/p>\n
As per protocol, only a handful of key officials had access to the confidential document. These included the foreign minister, the prime minister and the army chief. After the document\u2019s existence was first revealed by Mr Khan in a public meeting in Islamabad, a meeting of the National Security Committee was held in which the cipher\u2019s contents were shared with the participants.<\/p>\n
In addition, that is the question of a copy of the cipher which was provided to the prime minister. According to his former principal secretary Azam Khan, Mr Khan reportedly \u2018misplaced\u2019 his copy of the cipher, something the former PM also admitted. However, Mr Khan has claimed in subsequent interviews that there was no question of such a sensitive document being misplaced, and that the cipher was safe and sound at the Foreign Office.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in an indirect admission of the contents of the purported cipher published by The Intercept, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said, \u201cThough there is nothing new in this story, the investigation needs to [be] held to establish the authenticity of the information or source document. Potentially, it is a very sinister, treacherous, and seditious act.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a tweet, the minister said that it should not be forgotten that Mr Khan had a copy of the cipher, which \u201che has not returned and has accepted (on record) that he misplaced or lost it. If proven guilty, Khan should be tried under the Official Secret Act\u201d.<\/p>\n
At a briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that Washington did \u201cexpress concern privately to the government of Pakistan\u201d and then did the same \u201cpublicly [when] then PM Khan [went] to Moscow on the very day of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he refused to comment on the veracity of the document reproduced by The Intercept, Mr Miller said that these comment \u201cin no way show the United States taking a position on which the leader of Pakistan ought to be\u2026 I think what they show is the US government expressing concern about the policies choices the PM was taking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe allegations that the United States has interfered in internal decisions about the leadership of Pakistan are false, as we have stated they were false. They were always false and they remain false,\u201d Mr Miller said at the State Department briefing.<\/p>\n
When it was pointed out that the US had a history of ousting leaders in other countries and how the remarks may be construed as such, Mr Miller said: \u201cI would say how those comments, number one, could be taken out of context and, number two, how people might desire for them to be taken out of context. They might try to use them to advance an agenda that is not represented by the countries themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI think a number of people have taken them out of context to use them in political process.\u201d
\nBefore the publication of The Intercept story, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a briefing on Wednesday that the United States is watching \u201cwith concern\u201d events in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported that Mr Kirby made these remarks after being asked about the situation in Pakistan, where former PM Imran Khan was recently imprisoned and there has been a spike in militant attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re obviously concerned about any actions, particularly violent actions, that can contribute to instability in Pakistan or frankly any other country with whom we share a set of common interests when it comes to counterterrorism, so we\u2019re watching it with concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaked \u2018cipher\u2019 hints at US pressure over Russia visit WASHINGTON Aug 10 (Online): In a startling revelation, a US-based news organisation has published what it claims is the text of a diplomatic cipher, sent to Islamabad last year by Pakistan\u2019s former ambassador to the US […]<\/p>\n
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