by Ansar Abbasi in The News, Apr 15, 2015
ISLAMABAD: In the backdrop of the arrest of Moazam Ali Khan, considered to be the most critical link in Dr Imran Farooq murder case, Pakistan and UK are discussing some extraordinary cooperation to get to the person who ordered the killing of the MQM leader.
In a meeting held on Tuesday Interior minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan and the British high commissioner Philip Barton the non-existence of extradition treaty between the two countries was considered a hurdle.
Still Islamabad offered to extend some extra-ordinary cooperation to London in the case under some international obligations but with the condition that such cooperation would serve as precedent for future bilateral relations between the two countries.Like Pakistan, the British authorities are also excited over the arrest of Moazam Ali Khan.
While the Pakistani authorities are keen to interrogate the accused amid expectations of getting some startling revelations, the British are also interested to get hold of Moazam Ali Khan and the two other alleged killers believed to be in ISI custody to reach the real killer.
Pakistani authorities were after Moazam for the last one year. He was earlier traced in and around MQM headquarters Nine Zero in Karachi but was caught only a couple of days back.Moazam allegedly financed the two suspect murderers, who were arrested by the Pakistani agencies upon their arrival at Karachi airport following Imran Farooq’s murder. He had deposited around one million rupees in their bank accounts in Pakistan whereas around 7000 pounds were paid for their admission in a British educational institute.
Authorities in Pakistan have been reluctant to hand over the two suspects sought by the Scotland Yard in relation to their investigation into the assassination of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s former convener Dr Imran Farooq who was killed in a knife attack on September 2010.
On November 11, 2012, the London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan had disclosed exclusively to Geo News that two suspects were in the custody of Pakistani authorities on suspicion of killing Dr Imran Farooq.
The Pakistani security agencies remained silent about the men in their custody because they feared they could be eliminated too if given under the civilian control and something could happen to them.
The two important suspects have been questioned extensively by Pakistani authorities but it is understood that Pakistani government in the past has been uncomfortable about fully cooperating with the British authorities because of some unexplained complications involved.
But Moazam Ali Khan is far more important than the two suspect killers, as he is the one who had received orders for arranging finances for the two. Moazam was also the recipient of an important phone call soon after Dr Farooq’s murder, which led to the timely apprehension of the two suspect killers upon their arrival in Karachi.
Recently some media reports suggested that one of the two suspects has died but informed sources strongly deny this. These sources while confirming that both are alive revealed that the two young men taken into custody include one alleged killer whereas the other was his handler.http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-312744-Pakistan-UK-mull-over-extraordinary-cooperation
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