File photo of PTI Chairman Imran Khan
An audio recording, purportedly of a conversation between former prime minister Imran Khan and members of his federal cabinet, was released on Friday, once again raising significant questions over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s narrative of its government being ousted through a “foreign conspiracy.”
Titled “Conspiracy of Cipher: Part 2,” the latest audio recording is ostensibly of a meeting between Khan; then-planning minister Asad Umar; then-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi; and then-principal secretary to the P.M. Azam Khan. The brief, 1-minute, clip begins with a voice that appears to be Khan telling Qureshi that they, along with Azam, will hold a meeting with then-foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood—who retired on Sept. 29. “In this [meeting], we will ask him to sit quietly and write the minutes of our choice about the letter [sent by Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the U.S.],” says Khan. “Azam is saying that we should write the minutes … and we will Photostat it [letter].”
At this, a voice allegedly belonging to Azam, interjects: “The cipher came on the 8th or 9th. It came on the 8th.” Khan then responds: “But the meeting [between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and then-ambassador Asad Majeed] took place on the 7th. We will not take the Americans’ name under any circumstances. So on this issue, please, the name of the country [U.S.] should not escape anyone’s mouth.”
He continues: “This is very important for all of you. Which country did the letter come from? I don’t want to hear [the name] from anyone.”
At this point, a voice appearing to be that of then-minister Umar interrupts by asking if Khan is deliberately describing the cipher as a letter. “This isn’t a letter; it’s the transcript of the meeting,” he says. To this Khan responds: “It’s the same thing; whether a letter or a meeting transcript, it’s all the same. The people wouldn’t have understood what a transcript is; this is how you speak when addressing a public rally.”
Reflecting the instructions issued by Khan in this clip, no PTI leader identified the country they had been accusing of instigating a “foreign regime change”—until Khan blurted out the name himself during a nationally televised speech on March 31. Since then, the PTI has repeatedly accused the U.S. of conspiracy, despite denials of the same from Washington and members of the incumbent government.
#EXCLUSIVE: Part 2 of the cipher conspiracy leaked, the then PM @ImranKhanPTI with his foreign minister @SMQureshiPTI and planning minister @Asad_Umar and PS Azam Khan discussing how to give twist to the cipher and sell it as a conspiracy against his Govt in the public. pic.twitter.com/yIVmGboGX0
— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) September 30, 2022
Part 2 of?
The latest leak follows on an audio recording, released on Wednesday, of a conversation between Khan and Azam, which the PTI chairman appears to have accepted as accurate in subsequent public appearances. In that clip, Khan and Azam discuss summoning a meeting to “copy” the contents of the letter into formal minutes, with the then-principal secretary saying they can then make it part of the official record with their own analysis—which would conclude that a “threat” had been issued to Pakistan.
In that clip, Khan can also be heard telling Azam they would “play” on the cipher by establishing that the date of no-confidence was decided before the motion was tabled in Parliament.
After the release of the first audio, the PTI had claimed it had vindicated Khan’s claim of the cipher being “real”; however, this was never under debate, as the National Security Committee had already held two meetings on it and the incumbent government had also confirmed that “undiplomatic language” was used that merited a demarche. The party has, thus far, avoided discussing allegations of it concocting a conspiracy to build a narrative against the ruling coalition, despite leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement maintaining it “proves” it was entirely built on lies.