Major General Babar Iftikhar said the issue of cipher was an issue of national security and not a political one
ISLAMABAD: Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar Wednesday said that what services chiefs and the DG ISI stated in the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting clearly showed that there was no evidence of any conspiracy in the cipher, received from the US.
Speaking in a private television channel programme, Maj-Gen Babar said it was a considered stance of the services chiefs, which was based on intelligence information and their opinion. That was why no word of conspiracy was used in the NSC declaration, he added. "A detailed briefing on the issue was given which was based on the intelligence information," he said.
The military spokesman said the issue of cipher was an issue of national security, and not a political one, adding that that was why the services chiefs and the DG ISI were also present at the NSC meeting, the agenda of which was already decided, with their input, which was based on intelligence-based information.
Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar pointed out what he said on Tuesday in response to a statement of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, that it was not a political statement, rather it was a clarification on behalf of the services chiefs of Pakistan.
Maj-Gen Babar was asked to comment on a statement of PTI leader Asad Umar, who termed the ISPR DG statement a political one.
The ISPR DG said that he was a spokesman for the services chiefs of Pakistan and he was supposed to clarify things on their behalf. “There was nothing political and it was a clarification on behalf of the services chiefs,” he said.
The military spokesman said the institution would provide every possible assistance to a judicial commission, or any other body, constituted by the government to know facts behind the cipher to bring the issue to a logical conclusion. He rejected an impression that the institution would oppose formation of a judicial forum to know the facts behind the cipher.
“Not at all. We will extend every support to the judicial commission or whatever commission or forum constituted by the government of the day to take the issue to a logical end,” he said. He maintained that it was up to the government and not the institution to decide as to how they wanted to take forward the issue, saying that the previous government also had to option of forming a judicial commission to probe the issue, like the present government. “The institution will extend every possible assistance and input, based on intelligence information, which has already been given at the highest forum twice,” he said.