ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) slammed former CIA officer John Kiriakou for making explosive claims about former Prime Minister Imran Khan, demanding public apology and threatening legal action in US courts if he refuses.
The response comes after recent interview in which Kiriakou alleged that PTI chief sought permission from US ambassador in Islamabad before exposing the 2022 “cipher scandal,” claiming that the former PM also tried to reach the Pakistani establishment through his ex-wife, Jemima Khan.
It all started in March 2022, when then-PM Imran Khan waved piece of paper in the air, claiming it was a cipher sent by Pakistan’s ambassador in the US, revealing a US conspiracy to topple the PTI government.
PTI Secretary of Information Sheikh Waqas Akram fired back, calling Kiriakou’s allegations “ridiculous, false, and fabricated,” pointing out that he presented no evidence or documents to support his claims. Waqas noted Kiriakou’s “contradictory past statements”, claiming US control over Pakistan’s nuclear assets during General Musharraf’s era while echoing India’s propaganda on terrorism in Pakistan.
Sheikh Waqas stressed that PTI reserves the right to take legal action against Kiriakou in American courts if he does not apologize publicly. He also highlighted that Kiriakou was convicted and served 23 months in prison for leaking CIA secrets.
“The truth is that Pakistan’s then-ambassador Asad Majeed had officially communicated the details of his meeting with Donald Lu to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via a formal cipher,” Waqas said.
He said Khan presented this to the National Security Committee, Parliament, and the federal cabinet, and later issued a demarche to the U.S. embassy, and summoned a U.S. official to formally register the protest.
Kiriakou, a former head of the U.S. counterterrorism station in Islamabad, alleged that Imran Khan had told the U.S. ambassador he was going to make allegations against the U.S. and requested that American authorities remain silent. He further claimed that the U.S. establishment assured Khan of protection, but the Pakistani military leadership rejected this and refused to support him.
According to Kiriakou, Imran Khan even sent a message saying, “Please save me,” and the Americans allegedly asked Jemima Goldsmith to intervene with Pakistan, a claim PTI calls “entirely baseless.”
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