FIA summons Murad Saeed, Faisal Vawda in Arshad Sharif case

• FIA calls in Vawda and Saeed with evidence to back their claims.
• Notices have been sent to both former ministers.
• Waqar Ahmed and his wife questioned by Kenyan authorities.

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

FIA sources have said that the federal ministers have been sent notices to appear at its headquarters with evidence to back their claims.

In his explosive presser on October 26, PTI's now-expelled leader dismissed the Kenyan police's version of Sharif being killed in a case of "mistaken identity". He said that 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's fact-finding team has written to ARY's owner Salman Iqbal and Karachi King’s CEO Tariq Wasi to assist in the murder inquiry and respond to its questions.

There is no word from Wasi yet, but Iqbal said in a statement that he was cooperating with the team.

“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," Iqbal said responding about the matter.

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

Sources in Kenya and Pakistan shared on Tuesday that the slain journalist's luggage has arrived in Pakistan from Kenya.

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

Meanwhile, Waqar and his wife Maureen Waqar appeared at the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) in Nairobi on Tuesday, where they were questioned regarding the journalist's killing while he was their guest in the country.

It should be noted that the case of the journalist's killing has been under investigation in both Kenya and Pakistan since the night he was murdered, while Pakistan's two-member probe commission has been been advised by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to visit Sharif's place of residence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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