Donald Lu’s stance on cipher: PTI demands Asad Majeed record his statement

ISLAMABAD: A day after US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu denied US involvement in ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s ouster from office, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday demanded the then Pakistan’s ambassador Asad Majeed to record his statement in response to the US diplomat’s “lie” before a US Congressional panel.

Speaking at a presser here, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that “since Donald Lu has denied it [threatening Pakistan to remove Imran Khan] we demand Asad Majeed must give his statement in this regard as he was the one who had sent the cypher”.

“We demand Asad Majeed to come on record and renew his statement which he had written in cypher after his conversation with Lu. We want him [Asad Majeed] to speak up whether the denial from Lu is right or wrong…it’s been almost 20 hours [since Lu denied US interference to oust Imran Khan] but Asad Majeed is yet to react to Lu’s statement,” he added.

He said the jailed former prime minister had called upon Majeed to give his statement as he was privy to the conversation with the controversial US official, adding the PTI wanted a thorough probe into cypher as Lu had told a lie before a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the US House of Representatives.

The PTI chairman reiterated that the former Pakistan ambassador to the US must come on record and break the silence over the misleading statement by Donald Lu before the subcommittee of US foreign affairs.

“Whatever Donald said during the hearing is a complete lie and there is no second opinion about the conspiracy against Pakistan as after the Pakistan’s ambassador’s cypher, the opposition had moved the no-confidence motion to remove Imran Khan as prime minister,” he maintained.

To a question, he said the doors for talks with the government were always open and the release of the party founding chairman from jail could not be linked to talks with the incumbent regime.

“The case for the release of Imran Khan is being taken up by the courts and we will not hold any talk with the government for the release of Imran Khan as we’ve full faith in the courts,” he declared.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024