Copy of diplomatic cable goes missing from PM House

The federal cabinet on Friday made the startling revelation that not only have audio recordings been leaked publicly, but now, it has been learnt that a copy of the decoded diplomatic cable – cypher – has gone missing from the Prime Minister House.

This was disclosed during the meeting of the federal cabinet in Islamabad on Friday. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting.

A statement of the meeting released after the meeting detailed the deliberations on the recent audio leaks.

The meeting was given a briefing on the diplomatic cypher and was told that the document was found missing from the PM House records.

Officials detailed that while there is an entry for its receipt, its copy – considered to be the property of the PM House as per law – was found missing from the PM House records.

Cabinet members expressed strong concerns over the missing document and continuous surfacing of audios of former prime minister, ex-principal secretary to the prime minister and other people about the diplomatic cypher.

Cabinet members endorsed the decision of the National Security Committee (NSC) to investigate the matter thoroughly and set up a special committee of the cabinet to probe the matter. The committee will investigate, among others, former prime minister Imran Khan, Azam Khan and other former ministers involved in the conspiracy and determine legal action against those involved.

The cabinet noted that the leaked audios had exposed the criminal conspiracy of the previous government under the garb of the diplomatic cypher.

The meeting noted that vital national interests were damaged by ascribing concocted meanings to a diplomatic cypher for political gains, and it [the cypher] was stolen after “fraud, forgery and fabrication”.

It was a massive violation of the constitutional oath and other related laws and regulations, particularly the Official Secrets Act. Moreover, it was an unpardonable crime against the state, which only prioritized political interests over vital national interests.

Therefore, it was necessary under the constitution, law and rules to investigate the issue in detail and punish those found responsible severely in accordance with the law.

The committee also evolved a consensus on submitting a petition on the Reko Diq case in the Supreme Court thorugh the President.

On the interior ministry’s request, three new names have been excluded from the Exit Control List (ECL), while 12 names were included.