The fact-finding team probing the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif has concluded that his killing was planned and not a case of mistaken identity, as the Kenyan police have claimed. According to the team’s report, the “transnational roles” of individuals from Kenya, Dubai, and Pakistan cannot be ruled out. “The four GSU (General Service Unit, a paramilitary wing) police officials and OC GSU training camp had been used as instruments in this case under influence, either financial or some other compulsion,” it stated. The report said that Waqar, who sponsored and hosted the journalist, was connected to Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), reports The ExpressTribune. It furthered that Waqar handed over Sharif’s personal cell phone and iPad to an NIS officer rather than to the police. “His linkage with national and international agencies provides a scope of possibilities of transnational characters in this case”. The report also punched holes in the version given by Khurram (driver of the vehicle in which Sharif was travelling), saying it did not match “his [Sharif’s] sitting position, the position of the gunners as well as the line of fire”.
