NAIROBI: Pakistan’s prominent journalist Arshad Sharif, assassinated in Kenya on October 23, attended a party where six American nationals were also present.
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According to a report by Kenyan media, the information about presence of Americans hours before the assassination of Arshad Sharif came to light during interrogation of Waqar Ahmed, owner of the shooting range Sharif spent time on the day he was shot and killed, about the identity of a group of Americans who were training at his facility.
Report suggests WaqarAhmed contacted the Canadian High Commission and sought protection after he was listed among the persons of interest in the death of the journalist. A detective privy to the investigations told Kenyan media that in his statement, Mr Ahmed said he and Mr Sharif had attended a party in a bush within his joint, AmmoDump Kwenia, located in Kajiado West, Kajiado county.
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“On the night he was shot dead, he was part of 12 people who attended a party within the joint. The party was conducted within the bush in the joint and was attended by six American nationals who were commanders of a larger team that was within the camp,” said the officer who spoke in confidence as he is not authorised to address the media.
“It will also be interesting to find out how the Americans managed to get to the joint and on whose jurisdiction they have been training at the camp. Such plans usually have an agreement between the governments concerned,” said the officer.
Also read: ‘Arshad Sharif was killed in well-planned murder conspiracy’: Kenya Human Rights Commission
The Kenyan media report says Pakistan’s probe team comprising Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Athar Wahid and Intelligence Bureau (IB) Deputy Director General Omar Shahid Hamid, sent a letter to Mr Waqar Ahmed and Mr Khurram Ahmed, asking for CCTV footage of where Mr Sharif lived. However, they are yet to receive the information.
The team also wanted to know the contact details of the people who were at AmmoDump Kwenia the day Mr Sharif died.
Also read: Arshad Sharif’s murder: Injured shooter not produced before Pak team, says DG FIA
They want to know the details of the organisation the US trainers and instructors belong to and the people who visited Mr Sharif during the two months he was in the country. In addition, they want to know where his iPad and cell phones are since they were last seen in the possession of Mr Waqar Ahmed.
