Donald Lu calls cipher allegation ‘complete falsehood’ in US congressional hearing

F.P. Report

WASHINGTON : United States Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Donald Lu refuted the cipher allegations against him in a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

He made this remark while testifying before a subcommittee of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, at a hearing titled ‘Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship’.

Lu was asked to give his assesment regarding the allegations against him by the PTI founder.

Regarding the cipher case, he refuted the claim of the PTI founder and mentioned he did not have any role in the removal of the former premier from power.

He called the cipher issue a “conspiracy theory, lie and complete falsehood”.

Meanwhile, Lu said the allegations against him over the last two years had led to regular death threats against him and his family.

“There is a line of acceptability and I think at times, some of the free speech has verged into threats of violence which is not acceptable in our society,” he added.

He said, “Pakistan is an important partner country of the United States and there is concern over the shutdown of the Internet during the election as incidents of mistreatment of journalists were also reported during the election.”

However, he said there should be a thorough investigation into the allegations of interference in the election adding the US policymakers were concerned about the incidents of election abuse and violence before the election.

Regarding the US-Pak relations, he said America has always supported Pakistan as the former has been investing in the latter for 67 years while mentioning that the both nations have also jointly fought the war on terror.

He added the recovery of the economy of Pakistan would be beneficial for the relations between both countries.

Courtesy: dunya news