Waqar, Khurram back out of promise to help Pakistan in Arshad Sharif murder probe

NAIROBI/LONDON: Businessmen brother Waqar Ahmad and Khurram Ahmad have backed out of their promise to cooperate with the Pakistani investigation team looking into the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif, it has been learnt.

Sources aware of the matter have shared with Geo News that Waqar and Khurram had assured Pakistani investigators that they will fully cooperate with the Pakistani investigation and assured to provide CCTV of the Riverside Residence penthouse in Nairobi but failed to provide anything as requested - three weeks after giving assurances to Pakistan’s investigation team.

During their meetings in Nairobi with Pakistani and Kenya authorities, the brothers assured of their cooperation but as far Pakistani is concerned they have refused to hand over key information that Pakistan had requested.

Their lawyer didn’t respond. The sources said that after meeting Waqar and Khurram, Pakistan’s investigation team - FIA director Athar Wahid and Intelligence Bureau (IB) deputy director general Omar Shahid Hamid - had sent a formal letter to Waqar asking for: CCTV footage of the penthouse apartment where Arshad Sharif lived as your guest for two months and 3 days; list of names and contact details of instructors and treaters who were present at your training site, Ammodump, at the time of the killing of Arshad Sharif; details of which organisations the trainers and instructors belong to; list of names and contact details of all staff employed by you at your training site; list of the individuals who met with Arshad Sharif during his stay at your premises; name and contact details of the individuals who asked you to sponsor Sharif’s invitation letter; and clarification about the whereabouts of Sharif’s iPad and cell phones which were last known to be in your possession.

Sources have confirmed that three weeks have passed and Waqar and Khurram have provided no assistance to Pakistan. After Nairobi, the Pakistani team went to Dubai and now back to Islamabad.

Arshad Sharif’s Kenya visa sponsorship was arranged by Nairobi-based property developer Waqar Ahmed, brother of Khurram Ahmed who was driving Arshad Sharif on the fateful night of 23rd of October 2022 when Arshad Sharif died in a hail of bullets rained on him by the Kenyan police at a deserted area.

The lawyer for Waqar and Khurram had earlier told Geo News in a statement that their clients were innocent. “The Kenya police issued a statement and regretted the shooting as a case of mistaken identity. That’s all we know for now. The investigations are still ongoing and our clients are fully cooperating with the investigation,” Daniel Kiragu had told this reporter.