Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Members of the federal cabinet on Saturday said that if the Qatari prince was not included in the investigation then the Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) report would not be acceptable.

Federal ministers Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Khawaja Asif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal expressed these views while addressing a press conference during which they levelled accusations at the JIT.

Khawaja Asif said that if the Qatari prince was not included in the investigation then the government would not accept the report. “In the Benazir Bhutto case, Mark Siegel was investigated while he was abroad,” he said. Asif called for the release of all the audio and video evidence of the JIT.

“We are political people who surrender to the law,” he said. “JIT has been controversial ever since day one,” said Khawaja Saad Rafiq. “The remarks of the judges have been used against us as weapons,” he added. Saad said that the civil and military institutions played a positive role in balancing relations with each other. However, he said that the government had reservations over the inclusion of intelligence personnel in the JIT.

“One respected member of the JIT was a member of NAB during the Musharraf era,” he said. “One person is leaking a picture and you are not ready to take his name. On the basis of what law are you tapping phones?” he asked.

Saad said the Joint Investigation Team probing the Sharif family’s offshore firms was tapping the phones of PML-N leaders, which was an illegal activity. He maintained that no institution had so far confirmed or denied the offence but the JIT had admitted that PML-N leaders’ phones were tapped. “We should be told according to what law they tapped our phones… it is illegal in Pakistan,” he said Saad.

The PML-N stalwart also raised objections over JIT’s control, which he said was with some intelligence agency, and was given on court orders. “An impression was given that the Federal Investigation Agency was going to head the JIT, but recently there have been rumours that the JIT is being controlled by the members of intelligence agencies within the team”. He also accused the JIT members of pressurising some members of the Sharif family to change their statements.

The minister said that the Sharif family was treated like common thieves and criminals without any proof against them. “But no one is ready to tell us where the theft took place.”

During the press conference, the PML-N ministers repeatedly raised questions over the functioning of the JIT and expressed reservations over the process of investigation. Khawaja Asif said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz had all presented themselves before the Joint Investigation Team.

The defence minister said that the original jurisdiction of investigation of the companies owned by the Sharifs lied with the countries where those companies were formed. “It is interesting that neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Kingdom had raised any question regarding the companies. But there was a hue and cry about them in Pakistan,” Asif said.

Ahsan Iqbal said that the PML-N leaders were political people and respected the rule of law, and believed that the right to rule lied with the 220 million people of the country. He demanded that the JIT proceedings should be made public. “The footage of what was asked and answered should be shown to the people,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, July 9^th , 2017