Imran features in new damning audio leak

Another audio surfaced on Wednesday, this time involving PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan and his principal secretary at the time, Azam Khan, having a conversation over the diplomatic cypher that the ex-prime minister has been claiming was a “foreign conspiracy” to oust his government.

A 1.43-minute audio clip appeared on social media like previous ones from unidentified sources purportedly revealing a conversation between the former prime minister and his principal secretary about using the classified diplomatic cable for political purposes.

“We have to play with this. Don’t take America’s name, just play with this,” the PTI chief allegedly said in the audio clip. To this, a second voice, claimed to be that of Azam, advised him that a meeting be held on the subject first.

“See, if you recall, in that [cypher] the ambassador has written in the end to [send a] demarche,” Azam allegedly responded.

“Even if the demarche is not to be sent, as I have thought a lot about it at night — you [Imran] said they raised it — I thought about how to cover all this,” he added.
Azam allegedly further advised Imran to hold a meeting with then foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the foreign secretary.

“Shah Mahmood Qureshi will read out that letter and whatever he reads out will be converted into a copy. I will then make minutes that the foreign secretary has prepared this,” the voice believed to be that of Azam said.

“But its analysis will have to be conducted here. We will carry out the analysis and convert it into minutes as we want it to become [part of] the office record,” he allegedly added.

Azam purportedly elaborated that they needed to do this so that the matter was on the record.

“The consulate is for the state. When he [Qureshi] is reading it out loud, I will copy it down so it is on record that this thing really did happen,” Azam explained further.

He then suggested that Imran should call the foreign secretary so the issue could also be on the bureaucratic record.

“We don’t have a copy so how did they pick it up?” Azam purportedly questioned.
To which the voice attributed to Imran said: "Anyhow, this is indeed a foreign conspiracy.”

The former prime minister and his party did not deny the contents of the audio leak.

Instead, they insisted the leak only confirmed the existence of the cypher and foreign conspiracy.

Imran, when asked by reporters in Islamabad, alleged that the audio was leaked by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, He added that he had yet to “play with this” indirectly confirming the conversation with his principal secretary on the issue.