Pak President Calls For Probe Into Alleged Regime Change "Conspiracy"

President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday called for a thorough probe into the alleged regime change conspiracy by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.

According to a statement issued by the President's Secretariat, the President wrote a letter to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, insisting that an investigation should be carried out into the matter, reported Geo News.

The probe will be conducted by recording circumstantial evidence to reach a logical conclusion and provide clarity to Pakistanis.

Alvi said that the report in cypher included some statements made by Donald Lu, US Assistant Secretary of State in quotes mentioning a "no-confidence motion" and also mentioned "forgiveness" if it succeeded, and "dire consequences" if the said motion failed, reported Geo News.

He wrote that he had read the copy of the cypher sent by the then ambassador of Pakistan to the United States. The cypher contained an official summary of a meeting held in the Pakistan Embassy between Lu, another US official, the Pakistani ambassador, a note-taker, and other diplomats of the Pakistan Mission.

In the letter, President Alvi referred to the two meetings of the National Security Committee (NSC) that had endorsed that statements made by Lu amounted to "unacceptable and blatant interference" in the internal affairs of Pakistan and its government had rightly issued a demarche, reported Geo News.

The president also underscored that threats could both be covert and overt and in this particular case, it was clearly communicated in undiplomatic language.

He noted that the PTI chairman had raised serious issues of possible covert reactions and ramifications of the threat.

The letter also said that the president was of the belief that for a sovereign nation and people, whose dignity had been deeply hurt, in-depth analysis and investigation must be carried out to inquire into what may or may not have been a preparation, starting before or following the overt threat, for a possible conspiracy to change Pakistan's regime, reported Geo News.

President Alvi also emphasised that proving a "smoking gun" had been identified 'in the hand of a conspirator', or finding a possible money trail or identifying meetings where people had been motivated towards covert action or where people had been bought and sold, would be a vigorous exercise.

He stated that even recorded circumstantial evidence could lead the way towards some conclusions and provide closure to the people of Pakistan who deserved clarity, reported Geo News.

Underscoring the need for a full investigation into the matter, he informed Imran Khan that he was sending his letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well as to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, requesting that the latter may constitute an empowered Judicial Commission to conduct open hearings in this regard.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)