LONDON: A United Arab Emirates (UAE) government official visited slain journalist Arshad Sharif at the Millennium Hotel in Dubai on August 19, Geo News has learned.
Salim Abdullah’s name appears in official documents prepared by Pakistani investigators establishing facts surrounding the murder of Arshad Sharif, who was killed in Kenya on October 23, 2022.
The two-member team – comprising FIA director Athar Wahid and IB deputy chief executive Omar Shahid Hamid – wrote in a report that “a UAE official, Mr Salim Abdullah, allegedly met Arshad Sharif at the Millennium Al Basher Hotel, Al Bashra Dubai on August 19 (between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. UAE time).
Pakistani investigators have written to the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai to help the Pakistani team identify “Salim Abdullah” in coordination with Dubai Police. Arshad Sharif arrived in Kenya the following day, August 20, on an invitation letter sent to him by Waqar Ahmad, whose brother Khurram Ahmad was driving him when he was assassinated. Waqar Ahmad told police he invited and hosted Arshad Sharif at the request of Tariq Wasi.
The Pakistani investigation team has written a second letter to the authorities in Dubai to provide information which has not been shared with Pakistan so far despite two requests so far.
The investigation team asked for a long list of things to help with the investigation: a copy of the visa and related travel documents issued to Arshad Sharif; identification of the places of residence of Arshad Sharif during his stay in Dubai from August 10 to August 20; any video surveillance of the premises; a map of Arshad Sharif’s movements during his stay in Dubai; any information concerning the people he met during his stay; clarification on whether Arshad Sharif’s visa was canceled and if so, why; Call Detail Record (CDR) of Arshad’s Dubai number which he used while there; all data on arrivals and departures of Pakistani passport holders from August 10 to August 20; and any information on whether UAE government officials met with Arshad Sharif and asked him to leave the country.
The Pakistani team wrote to the Consulate General in Dubai to coordinate with the UAE authorities and help obtain the Call Detail Record (CDR) of the Dubai numbers of Tariq Wasi and Salman Iqbal. Both have denied any involvement in the murder.
The investigation team wrote a letter to the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that they had visited Dubai on November 14, 2022 for a few days to investigate and asked the Consul General to coordinate with the Dubai Police to the provision of data. “However, the required information/records have not yet been provided. It is therefore requested that the relevant authorities in the UAE may be approached to provide the data required in order to carry out the fact-finding procedure, as the Supreme Court of Pakistan has instructed to submit the report,” he said.
The team also revealed that they wanted to interview Mr. Arsalan Satti, stationed at the Consulate General in the visa section, to appear before the team but that Mr. Satti did not show up. Pakistani investigators have now asked Mr Satti to appear before the team for questioning on November 28, 2022.
The investigative team also wrote to police chiefs in Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan to serve notices on those who had registered complaints against Arshad Sharif and two others. The notices were served on Ghulam Murtaza Chandio who registered FIR against Arshad Sharif in Islamabad; Ashiq Ali, Tayyab Hussain, Amir Ali and Abdur Rauf in Sindh and Muhammad Ayub, Shah Muhammad and another in Balochistan.
The FIA also sent a notice to Syed Tasneem Haider Shah who claimed that the assassination plot against PTI chief Imran Khan and slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif was organized by the PMLN in London, but he accepted that he had no evidence of any kind to prove his claims. and that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s gunman reached Kenya and Arshad Sharif’s assets reached London.