ISLAMABAD: A US-based news organization reported on Monday that a confidential document produced by Pakistan’s top spy agency in response to a query by the country’s foreign ministry “undermined” a high-profile case against former prime minister Imran Khan in which he is charged with leaking state secrets and tried under the Official Secrets Act.
A special court was set up in August to conduct Khan’s prison trial in what is popularly called the cipher case. The court held in-camera proceedings for several weeks before its hearings were declared illegal by the Islamabad High Court that instructed jail authorities to hold an open trial by providing access to the public and media organizations.
The case against Khan relates to an alleged diplomatic correspondence between Washington and Islamabad that the former prime minister says was proof that his ouster as PM in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022 was part of a US conspiracy to remove him.
While Washington has denied Khan’s accusations, a complaint against the ex-premier’s decision to share its contents with the public says his mishandling compromised the integrity of the encrypted communication system used by the state’s security apparatus.
A report published in The Intercept quoted a document prepared by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as saying there had been no threat to the encryption system used by the Pakistani missions abroad.
“If plain text of an encrypted message (cryptogram) ... is leaked it has no effect on security of encryptor,” the document prepared on Aug. 23 said according to the US-based media organization. “Leakage of a plain text message does not compromise the algorithm.”
The Intercept, which published what it called was the text of the confidential diplomatic dispatch from Washington on Aug. 9, said that Pakistan’s foreign ministry sent a query to the ISI soon after its previous story, asking if the revelation of the plain text of a cipher compromised the integrity of the system’s encryption.
“The encryption algorithm is designed with an assumption that the plain/cipher text pairs and algorithms are known to the adversary, the security lies in the secrecy of the key,” the ISI allegedly wrote in its analysis. “Therefore leakage of a plain text message does not compromise the algorithm.”
The American online publication said the Pakistani intelligence agency’s assessment undermined a central plank in the high-profile prosecution of the former prime minister even as the special court continues its hearing in the cipher case.
The government is yet to respond to the story.
Khan is expected to be indicted in the ongoing prison trial against him as he faces the special court in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi today.
US news outlet says Pakistani confidential document ‘undermines’ state secrets case against ex-PM Khan
https://arab.news/g6528
US news outlet says Pakistani confidential document ‘undermines’ state secrets case against ex-PM Khan
- Prepared by the top spy agency, the document asserts cipher text leak doesn’t compromise state’s encryption system
- The Intercept says the spy agency produced the document in August in response to a query by Pakistan’s foreign ministry
Pakistan FM discusses regional situation with Saudi counterpart, urges restraint and dialogue
- This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken since the Arab Coalition targeted weapon shipments on Yemen’s Mukalla port
- Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry has invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to ‘discuss just solutions to southern cause’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, discussed the regional situation with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and called for restraint and dialogue to resolve issues, the Pakistani foreign office said late Friday, amid tensions prevailing over Yemen.
This is the second time the two foreign ministers have spoken this week since the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen carried out a “limited” airstrike on Dec. 30, targeting two shipments of smuggled weapons and military equipment sent from the Emirati port of Fujairah to Mukalla in southern Yemen.
A coalition forces spokesperson said the weapons were meant to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in Yemen’s Hadramaut and Al-Mahra “with the aim of fueling the conflict.” The UAE has since announced withdrawal of its remaining troops from Yemen, rejecting any actions that could threaten the Kingdom or undermine regional stability.
In their telephonic conversation late Friday, the Pakistani and Saudi foreign ministers discussed the latest situation in the region, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“FM [Dar] stressed that all concerned in the region must avoid any escalatory move and advised to resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy for the sake of regional peace and stability,” it added.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry invited factions in south Yemen to hold a dialogue in Riyadh to “discuss just solutions to the southern cause.”
The ministry statement said the conference in the Saudi capital had been requested by Rashad Al-Alimi, President of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, and the Kingdom urged all factions to participate “to develop a comprehensive vision” that would fulfill the aspirations of the southern people.
Disregarding previous agreements with the Arab Coalition, the STC separatist group launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. It also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth.
The advance has raised the spectre of the return of South Yemen, a separate state from 1967 to 1990, while dealing a hammer-blow to slow-moving peace negotiations with Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia said the STC action poses a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security, and regional stability. The Kingdom has reiterated the only way to bring the southern cause to a resolution is through dialogue.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s foreign office expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to the Kingdom’s security, amid rising tensions in Yemen.
“Pakistan expresses complete solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reaffirms its commitment to security of the Kingdom,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly news briefing.
“Pakistan maintains its firm support for the resolution of Yemen issue through dialogue and diplomacy and hopes that Yemen’s people and regional powers work together toward inclusive and enduring settlement of the issue, safeguarding regional stability.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark defense pact in September last year, according to which aggression against one country will be treated as an attack against both. The pact signaled a push by both governments to formalize long-standing military ties into a binding security commitment.
