A voice clip showing former prime minister Imran Khan purportedly ordering his then-principal secretary Azam Khan to “play” with the US encryption has surfaced as audio of prominent figures continues to leak online.
In response, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry stated that “the recent disclosures only prove the attempt to hide the US cable from the [then] prime minister [Imran Khan].”
Transcript:
Imran Khan: All right, now let’s play around with it. America doesn’t need to be named. We’ll just claim that the date was set.
Azam Khan: I was considering, sir, that this cypher matter warrants a meeting. If you recall, the ambassador suggested that we send a demarche at the end of the letter. How can we handle this if you still don’t want to issue a demarche? I began to consider it late last night. Call a meeting of the foreign secretary and foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi (Sohail Mahmood). We will want Shah Mahmood Qureshi to read the letter there. So whatever he tells us, I will record it in [meeting] minutes as having been uttered by both the foreign secretary and the foreign minister. The analysis will then be written as we see it suitable.
Imran Khan: So, who do we need to invite to this meeting? Shah Mahmood, Azam, Sohail, and I (Imran).
Azam Khan: That’s it, yes.
Imran Khan: All good, let’s have this meeting the following day.
Azam Khan: Things will be documented if we do this. This is a consulate photo state at the moment, and when he reads them out, I will easily duplicate them so they become a part of the record. Call the foreign secretary as well so that this issue is brought up on a bureaucratic level as well as a political one. You get what I’m trying to express.
Imran: Thus, was it written by the ambassador himself?
Azam Khan: How did they remove this if we didn’t receive a copy?
Imran Khan: From here, this was raised. Let’s make it a foreign conspiracy anyhow.