Imran shares contents of letter carrying ‘evidence of foreign conspiracy’ against govt

Islamabad, March 30 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan shared the contents of the “letter” which he claimed purportedly contained “evidence” of a foreign conspiracy against his government with some senior journalists here on Wednesday, Dawn reported. Khan had first brandished the “letter” at the PTI’s power show on March 27 in which he had claimed that there was a conspiracy to over throw his government and that foreign powers and money was involved. Arshad Sharif, Kashif Abbasi and Imran Riaz Khan were among the journalists before whom the contents of the letter were read out. Sharif said: “Asad Umar shared some details. They showed the letter from a distance. It is very clearly evident [from the letter] that whatever is happening in Pakistan through the no-confidence motion was conveyed on March 7 and [whoever the letter was addressed to] was told that if the vote of no-confidence is successful, Pakistan’s problems internationally will be reduced but if Prime Minister Imran Khan survives the no-confidence vote, arm-twisting of Pakistan will be done”. “My information is that when the details of this letter were being read out in the federal cabinet meeting, five to six ministers became tearful. PM has neither told the name of the country nor the officials. He confirmed that these things have been shared with the army chief and the DG ISI. He also said an in-camera session of parliament will be briefed by Shah Mahmood Qureshi about this. The parliament will also be taken into confidence.” Imran Riaz Khan, corroborated Sharif’s account of the briefing, and said: “Only the content was revealed as the copy of the letter cannot be given. They have also shown it in the cabinet meeting. It is present with the military leadership. Today, all the details were shared with the media through an official in different languages. “What they shared with us is that this letter is a conversation between Pakistani officials and officials of another country. According to my understanding, that country is America but the government did not name the country. They did not tell the number of officials or the location of the meeting. They said that Europe and the US are not happy with Pakistan’s stance on Russia and Ukraine.” Meanwhile, Kashif Abbasi, who also participated in the meeting, said that only the gist of the letter was shared with the media persons, which clearly stated that the country concerned was “unhappy” with Pakistan’s policies. “The mention of the prime minister and the no-confidence motion was made more than once and regime change was talked about. We were given details and shown [the letter] from a distance but we were told it could not be shared because of the Official Secrets Act,” he added. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that he would show the letter to senior journalists and the government’s allies. ACL2152