— In unprecedented presser, spymaster and chief military spokesperson implicate Imran, ARY News boss in journalist murder
— Spy chief claims former PM first downplayed, later played with cypher
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), struggling to secure its government in the face of a looming vote of no-confidence brought by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance, in March offered the army chief “an indefinite extension” apparently in return for help in surviving it, claimed Lt. Gen. Nadeem Anjum, chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, on Thursday.
In an unprecedented, explosive and rather strongly-worded press conference, his first since assuming office in October last year, the spy chief — who was accompanied by Lt. Gen. Babar Iftikhar, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) — spoke at length, often candidly, on issues ranging from the diplomatic cypher at the heart of Khan’s ouster, to the protest march, and to the cold-blooded assassination of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.
Talking about the “lucrative offer” of extension, Gen. Anjum claimed the offer to the army chief was “made in front of me. He [Gen. Bajwa] rejected it because he wanted the institution to move forward from a controversial role to a constitutional role.”
Taking a thinly-veiled jibe at the PTI chairman Gen. Anjum said the former prime minister met the army chief in the night and then called him a “traitor” the morning.
“If the commander-in-chief [of Pakistan Army] is a traitor then why did you meet him behind the curtain? Meeting [him] is your [constitutional] right but it cannot be possible that you meet at night and call [him] a traitor,” he said.
Gen. Iftikhar opened the press conference, saying the purpose of his talk was to shed light on Sharif’s killing and the “circumstances surrounding it”.
“This presser,” he said, “is being held in the context of presenting facts so that ‘facts, fiction and opinion’ can be differentiated”. Shehbaz Sharif, who just returned from a state visit to Saudi Arabia, had been “specially informed” about the sensitivity of the press conference, he added.
The chief military spokesperson said there was a need to examine how “a false narrative has been made and people have been misled” on the assassination.
“Institutions, leadership, and even the army chief himself have been accused without a reason to create an extraordinary chaotic situation,” said Gen. Iftikhar.
He said Sharif’s death was a “very tragic incident” and called the journalist an “icon in the field of journalism, a naval officer’s son and a martyr’s brother and a serving officer’s brother-in-law”.
His programmes will be seen as a role model for journalists, he added.
Gen. Iftikhar shared the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issued a threat alert for Sharif on August 5 on “special directive of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan”. This shows the threat alert was issued with the aim to force Sharif to leave the country, he claimed.
“Salman Iqbal [ARY News boss] told [executive vice president at the station] Ammad Yousuf after Shahbaz Gill’s arrest to send Sharif out of the country,” he said, adding that the ARY Group boss must “be brought back to Pakistan” and made part of the investigations into the death of the journalist.
“We all should wait for the formation of an inquiry commission. Have confidence in your institutions. We have been washing the mistakes of the past with blood for the last 20 years. We can make mistakes but we can’t be traitors or conspirers,” said the military spokesperson.
Gen. Iftikhar also confirmed the military has requested the government to conduct a high-level probe into the killing of Sharif.
POLITICS BEING PLAYED WITH CYPHER
“Since Arshad was an investigative journalist, he also looked into the cypher issue when it surfaced,” shared the general. He also highlighted the journalist had also interviewed the then-prime minister Khan on the issue, adding that at the time, it was claimed that he was shown the confidential diplomatic document.
“Facts linked with the cypher and Arshad Sharif’s death need to be found. So there is no ambiguity left in this regard,” said the director-general of ISPR.
He said that the facts linked with the cypher and Sharif’s death need to be found, so there is no ambiguity.
Disclosing how the cypher issue began, Gen. Iftikhar said the army chief had discussed it with Khan on March 11 after which the latter had termed it to be “not a big issue”.
“It was surprising for us when on March 27 a piece of paper was waved and an attempt was made to build a narrative that was far from reality.”
He said that several facts had come to light regarding the cypher revealing the “baseless and unfounded” narrative surrounding it. The ISPR informed the National Security Committee (NSC) that no proof was found regarding the conspiracy against the PTI government, he said.
The ISI also did not find any evidence regarding the conspiracy, he added. “This is all part of the record. We wanted to bring this to the public. And we left the decision to the then-government.”
However, this did not happen and more rumours were spread to gain political mileage, he said, adding that the Pakistan Army was also targeted.
At this time, Sharif and other journalists were fed a particular narrative and an attempt was made to defame Pakistan and the country’s institutions across the world, he said.
“In this media trial, ARY News played the role of a spin doctor in targeting the army and promoting a false narrative […] the NSC meeting was presented in the wrong context.”
