President Alvi says 'grossly misquoted' on issue of cypher

President Dr Arif Alvi said Tuesday that news items “grossly misquoted and wrongly highlighted” his statement on the matter of the diplomatic cypher given during an interview with Aaj TV the other day.

In an interview with journalist Asma Shirazi on Monday, the president was quoted as saying: “I sent that letter to the chief justice. I am convinced that there must be a probe on it. I am not convinced on the fact that a conspiracy was hatched. But I have my doubts [and] there must be a probe."

In a statement issued by the president’s secretariat today, the president clarified that he clearly said that he had suspicions about a conspiracy, whose certainty, he said, could only be established after a thorough investigation.

“His position has not changed at all since he sent a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan wherein, he requested the Supreme Court for a thorough inquiry into the matter as he strongly believed that the issue must be investigated”, the statement quoted President Alvi as saying.

“We cannot ignore the fact that the national outfall of the ‘Cypher’ and its repercussions led to political upheaval, therefore an impartial inquiry, beyond the demarche issued by the Govt of Pakistan, was requested,” the statement said.

It also expressed disappointment that the president’s words were “distorted on a very grave matter with serious implications”.

“The President has spoken many times on the issue of ‘out of context’ portrayals, including in the Parliament, that create more division in an already polarized atmosphere,” the statement concluded.