JIT report to be incomplete sans statement of Qatari prince, says Kirmani

ISLAMABAD: Accusing the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of taking u-turn from its mandate, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Dr Asif Kirmani on Monday said the JIT report would be incomplete without recording the statement of Qatari prince.

“Either you (JIT) will have to go to Qatar or there will be reservations on the report which does not include statement of the prince,” Kirmani said while talking to media persons outside the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA). He also stressed that the Qatari prince was not a Pakistani citizen and as such law of the land does not apply on him. 

Dr Kirmani also questioned the JIT’s act of hiring a legal firm to procure some documents from London, saying why thousands of pounds were being spent on getting documents which could also be received from the Supreme Court. He said the JIT itself had given three options to the prince of Qatar in which he was asked to appear before JIT, record statement on video or the JIT member may visit Qatar.

He regretted that no headway was made on visit of the JIT members to Qatar despite the fact that the prince had invited them to come for the purpose for the third time. “You should visit Qatar if you want to have money trail of London flats,” he said, adding that the trail of London flats could not be found via Hudaibya Paper Mills.

Kirmani said the JIT had taken u-turn from its mandate and the objective for which it was constituted could not be achieved. He recalled that Nawaz Sharif was subjected to injustice during the tenures of Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf and emerged victorious on both occasions. “I also want to give message to lovers of Nawaz Sharif that their leader is Sadiq and Amin,” he said.

He pointed out that around 450 Pakistanis have been named in Panama Papers but they were roaming freely. While talking about the JIT, he used prefix of Mohtarma. “I am using word of Mohtarma as respect,” he said.