United States officials halted communications with Pakistani counterparts after former prime minister Imran Khan’s cipher fiasco, a senior diplomat has revealed.
Imran, on March 27 last year, had brandished a piece of paper during a public rally and portrayed it as a copy of a cipher in his speech, alleging that the US wanted him out of power.
The revelation about the US officials’ communications halt was made by Faisal Tirmzi, who was the additional secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dealing with US-related matters.
He told the details to the Federal Investigation Agency as the body conducted interviews of relevant officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister’s Office to probe the cipher case.
“The US had halted communications with us. The US asked Pakistan in writing to share the purported cipher being shown by the then PM,” Tirmizi, now servMinister’s Office to probe the cipher case. “The US had halted communications with us. The US asked Pakistan in writing to share the purported cipher being shown by the then PM,” Tirmizi, now serv ing as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, said.
The US officials told Pakistani counterparts that they would not hold candid discussions with them if secret conversations were made part of the public discourse. The Foreign Office then issued an advisory to then-prime minister Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, telling them about the repercussions of using diplomatic cables for political gains, Tirmizi said.
