Ex-premier Imran plays down leak, says hasn’t played ‘cypher’ yet

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan plays it cool in the event of his explosive audio leak in which a voice purportedly that of his own tells his then principal secretary that he only wants to play on the cypher.

Talking to media in Punjab House, Islamabad on Wednesday, the former prime minister played down his alleged talk saying ‘I have not yet played cypher.’

The PTI chief went on to say that he wanted to make the American cypher public. “The cypher must be investigated,” he emphasized adding that if such things were exposed then we could be able to play.

Fawad also plays it cool

Meanwhile, former information minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry has also tried to downplay the audio leaks targeting former prime minister Imran Khan by saying that an attempt was made to hide the American cypher from then premier.

In a tweet posted on Wednesday, the former PTI information minister retorted that the new leaks only confirmed that an attempt was made to conceal the American cypher from then prime minister.

In the leaked telephonic conversation, both then prime minister Imran Khan and his principal secretary Azam Khan could be heard discussing the US cypher, which had led to the ouster of the PTI government after the passage of no-trust motion in the National Assembly on April 10, 2022.

In the leaked audio, Imran could be heard directing his then principal secretary that they should play with the cypher issue without taking the name of the United States. “Let’s play with it and make it foreign plot,” Imran could be heard suggesting.

In around one and a half minute-long audio clip, Imran can be heard saying: “We just have to play with it, by hiding the date and without naming US”.

Azam Khan suggests that a meeting of then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and foreign secretary should be held where Qureshi would be asked to read out the letter.

“So whatever he will tell us, I will type it down and convert it into minutes. After this, we will write the analysis as we deem fit, so it becomes part of the record”, he suggested.