Zarvan
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LONDON: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that Pakistan and Britain have agreed on the “way forward” on the huge concerns Pakistan has in relation to the way investigation into Dr Imran Farooq’s murder and the money laundering charges has been conducted so far.
The interior minister, while answering questions asked by this correspondent during the minister’s talk at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) here, said that he had shared “concerns” with his counterpart Theresa May about various aspects of these cases and raised Pakistan’s reservations and concerns.
“I conveyed my concerns to Theresa May on certain issues but I can’t tell what her response was. All I can say is that I am now satisfied about the agreed way forward, now a way forward has been identified. You will see that positive steps will be taken in the days ahead.”
The minister said that Pakistan’s relations with the UK “have never been so much better” but “there are areas to improve” and “work needs to be done” to fill the voids. “I told Theresa May that we need to work on a timeline, I requested that high level security meetings should be held on regular basis to review the progress and a timeline should be agreed to ensure that things work smoothly, efficiently and against a timeline as it is in the best interest of both countries.”
He said that the UK Home Secretary would be visiting Pakistan in September on his invitation and “we will continue to work on areas of cooperation.”
When asked by this correspondent what had happened since Commander Richard Walton, the head of counter terror at the Met Police, visited Pakistan several months ago and why there was a complete silence on part of the Scotland Yard investigators, Chaudhry Nisar expressed his deep frustration and said that there was nothing more that Pakistan could do to help the British police.
Nisar said that the PML-N government took the initiative “right from the outset” in offering cooperation to the British government and offered every kind of help to the British government in relation to the murder of Dr Imran Farooq and the MQM linked money-laundering investigation. “We arrested the suspected killers and facilitators of Dr Imran Farooq case and shared information with Scotland Yard and the Home Office. We also shared intelligence that we had on the suspects. We granted access to the British investigators and the Crown Prosecution Service officials so that it could assist their investigation. I can confirm that they returned to London satisfied. I must say that we went an extra mile to assist the British investigators.”
When asked if he could explain why the UK authorities had failed to seek the extradition of Mohsin Ali Syed, Khalid Shameem and Moazzam Ali Khan and if Pakistan had refused to help the British authorities, the interior minister disclosed that the UK authorities had conspicuously shown no interest in the extradition of the murder accused and his partners. Nisar said that there was no extradition treaty between the two countries but “the lack of a treaty cannot stop us from cooperating with each other on curbing crimes, fighting drugs trafficking and rooting out international crimes.”
Nisar was offered to the Scotland Yard that Pakistan would help if a sincere effort was made to punish the killers of the former senior founding leader of the MQM who was killed in cold blood in September 2010. “We have been honest and open with the UK authorities. I can confirm that until today the UK has not sought extradition of anyone from us. We have not been given any information or intelligence. We provided everything that were asked for. We have concerns and I hope these concerns will be removed.”
Nisar said that he would soon form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which would visit London to conduct its inquiries in relation to the money-laundering as well as Dr Imran Farooq murder case. He said the FIA was as independent as the Scotland Yard and the CPS.
He vowed that Pakistan would not let the issue of Dr Imran Farooq’s murder case – and the money-laundering investigation – brushed under the carpet.
Nisar said that he had formed a JIT which has already spoken to Sarfraz Merchant twice and would speak to him again in relation to the Scotland Yard document which stated that the UK police had evidence that the MQM received money from the Indian government. He said the same JIT would also investigate and question Shahryar Khan Niazi, Britain’s former deputy head of mission in Karachi, who had alleged that Altaf Hussain himself told Scotland Yard and the government authorities that he took money from the Indian government.
Nisar apprised the audience that Pakistan was successfully working to deal with the menace of terrorism and in the last three years terrorism related incidents have declined sharply. He said that Pakistan has faced problems since its inception and most of these problems had been imposed on the country by outsiders. Nisar said the PML-N’s government had formed a coherent strategy to deal with terrorism and as a result militant havens were rooted out. He said the challenge to Pakistan was so huge that over 14,000 intelligence led operations were conducted only in about 18 months.
Nisar said that Pakistan did not differentiate between good and bad Taliban anymore but he did concede that in the past some people may have had a soft corner for the Taliban but no such strategy after the APS terror attacks. He said that there was no civilian and military divide but media sometime spread negativity.
He fully owned the Karachi operation and revealed that the MQM, on 28 June 2013, demanded that Karachi should be handed over to the army. “I opposed it because I didn’t want the military to get involved in Karachi and also because the military is busy fighting on so many fronts already. I said that the Karachi issue would be dealt through the operation.”
Nisar defended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said that he acted honourably and swiftly reacted to the Panama Leaks by setting up an independent inquiry. He said the opposition parties were trying to make an issue out of it but would not achieve anything.
Answering a question, Nisar said that former military dictator Pervez Musharraf rushed into helping the US after the 9/11 attacks and damaged Pakistan beyond repair. He said that none of the 9/11 attackers was a Pakistani but the Musharraf administration threw Pakistan into an unnecessary war. He said Pakistan’s dignity and honour were compromised by Musharraf by getting into an alliance with the US.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/115...r-pace-ofImran-Farooq-money-laundering-probes
