FIA summons Murad Saeed, Faisal Vawda in Arshad Sharif killing probe

ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Following their claims about being familiar with threats to slain journalist Arshad Sharif’s life following his murder in Kenya, the Federal Investigation Agency’s fact-finding committee has summoned former ministers Faisal Vawda and Murad Saeed to the FIA headquarters on Monday, November 21.

Sources at the FIA said that both the former and current PTI leaders have been sent notices to appear at the FIA headquarters with evidence to back their claims.

In his explosive presser on October 26, PTI’s now-expelled leader Vawda dismissed the Kenyan police’s version of Sharif being killed in a case of “mistaken identity”. He said the journalist, whom he claims to have known personally, was shot with two bullets and from a “very close range”.

Vawda also alleged that some people within the PTI were involved in Sharif’s killing and also said he was familiar with Khurram Ahmad and Waqar Ahmad — the brothers who hosted the journalist in Kenya.

Sources shared that the FIA fact-finding team has written to ARY owner Salman Iqbal and Karachi King’s CEO Tariq Wasi to assist in the murder inquiry and provide answers to the questions asked of them.

There is no word from Tariq Wasi yet but Salman Iqbal said in a statement that he was cooperating with the team. He said: “The investigation team just got in touch with me yesterday about the killing of my brother Arshad Sharif. While I still have concerns about the independence and transparency of the PMLN government investigation, my team and I are providing them with our full cooperation.”

Waqar Ahmad, who arranged a sponsor letter for Arshad Sharif and arranged his stay in Kenya, has said that Karachi Kings CEO Tariq Wasi asked him to arrange a visit visa for Arshad Sharif.

Sources in Kenya and Pakistan shared on Tuesday that slain journalist Arshad Sharif’s luggage had arrived in Pakistan from Kenya.

Blood-stained clothes of Arshad Sharif will be sent for forensic analysis, said the source, adding that Pakistan’s fact-finding committee members Ather Waheed and Omar Shahid Hamid have written to the Dubai police through the Pakistan Foreign Office, asking its help in local investigations.

Meanwhile, Waqar Ahmad and his wife Morin (Maureen) Waqar appeared on Tuesday at the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) in Nairobi, where they were questioned regarding the journalist’s killing while being their guests in the country.

It should be noted that the case of journalist’s killing has been under investigation in both Kenya and Pakistan since the night he was murdered on October 24.

Arshad Sharif was killed on the night of 23rd October when he was being driven in a Toyota Land Cruiser from AmmoDump Kwenia to Nairobi by Waqar Ahmad’s brother Khurram Ahmad. He was killed at the junction of Magadi-Kiserian Road by the armed officers of General Service Unit (GSU).