Islamabad: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Friday categorically denied the involvement of any “hostile” or “internal agency” in the embarrassing audio leaks from the Prime Minister’s House, asserting that the panel constituted to probe the leaks will submit a detailed report soon.
Sanaullah’s comments after third alleged audio of former prime minister Imran Khan surfaced on Friday, featuring him trying to buy the loyalties of lawmakers and also justifying his action before he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April.
The two other audio clips, leaked last month, have three Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders talking about the American cypher with Khan, the party chairman.
“I am categorically saying that no hostile or internal agency is involved in this. Nowadays, technology has advanced so much that hacking a telephone call is not a herculean task anymore,” the minister said at a press conference on Friday.
Sanaullah said the investigation into the security breach had concluded and the decision to make it public would be taken soon by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“A comprehensive report is being presented to the prime minister and the recommendations in the report will be implemented as soon as the Prime Minister issues directives,” he said.
The minister elaborated that the federal government would purchase the necessary equipment to avoid the repeat of such incidents in the future.
On September 30, a high-level panel constituted by the National Security Committee completed combing the Prime Minister’s House. Last week, the Pakistan government said it was taking necessary measures, including changing some standard operating procedures (SOPs) to secure the Prime Minister’s House, under which no staff and officers were allowed to take their mobile phone inside the premises.
A cyber security department is being formed at the PM House to be headed by a director general.
Waiters and low-ranked staff were under strict watch and their access to Sharif has been restricted.
Meanwhile, Sanaullah reiterated that the federal government is fully prepared to deal with upcoming proposed rally by Khan and his party workers, saying the Army would be summoned to tackle them.
The minister said that while they would be allowed to hold protests at designated spots here in the federal capital, the government would not allow them to enter the high security Red Zone.
Khan on Monday asked his party workers to prepare for a mega protest later this week to press for the dissolution of the National Assembly and announce fresh elections in the country.
PTI