Cipher case Pakistan ex PM Imran Khan Shah Mahmood Qureshi indicted

A Pakistani court indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his deputy in an official secrets acts case on Monday, his party said, in another blow for the jailed former cricket star ahead of a general election expected in January.

The charge is related to a classified cable sent to Islamabad by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington early last year, which Khan is accused of making public.

A special court indicted Khan and his party's deputy leader, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quershi, his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) told media, adding that the case would begin on Friday. It said it would challenge the indictment.

Khan said the cable was proof of a U.S. conspiracy to push the Pakistani military to oust him in a parliamentary vote in 2022 because he had visited Moscow just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Khan was forced from office after losing the 2022 no-confidence vote and he then led protests against the government to push for an early general election, and against the military, which he accused of trying to sideline him.

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