Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, a key witness in the cipher case involving former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has refuted the inclusion of the terms "conspiracy" or "threat" in the secret document central to the controversy.
The cipher case revolves around a piece of paper, purportedly a diplomatic cable, brandished by Khan at a public rally on March 27, 2022. Khan alleged it was proof of an "international conspiracy" against his government. Both Khan and Qureshi were indicted in December 2023 for alleged mishandling of the document for political purposes.
In a hearing at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, former Ambassador Asad Majeed provided a firsthand account of his meeting with a top US government official in March 2022. Majeed, who served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States from January 2019 to March 2022, disclosed details about the meeting with Assistant Secretary of the US Department of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu on March 7, 2022.
Majeed clarified that during the meeting, which was reported to Islamabad through a cipher telegram, there was no mention of the words "threat" or "conspiracy." He highlighted that both sides were aware that minutes of the meeting were being recorded.
Additionally, Majeed shared that he was summoned to a National Security Committee meeting, where it was decided to issue a demarche. He expressed that the cipher issue had negatively impacted Pakistan-US relations.
Majeed is one of the 25 witnesses who have provided statements in the cipher case, initiated on August 15 the previous year. Former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, on Monday, mentioned that the controversial cipher's copy was not returned to the foreign ministry until his retirement in September 2022.
(With Agency Inputs)
