ISLAMABAD: It appears that Asif Ali Zardari has finally decided to go for the kill against the Sharif family.
In his considered view the appearance and testimony of Senator Rehman Malik, due to be presented in the JIT on June 23, will be the final nail in the Panama coffin.
But in his latest meeting with Mr Malik in London a few days back, Zardari was a little apprehensive, as Malik had told a TV channel that his report on Hudaibiya was “not an FIA document but his personal property.” Could Malik bypass him for obtaining immunity, a NRO for himself, Zardari wondered.
PPP circles say Zardari was thinking that if he could get Nawaz disqualified now, Imran Khan would be easy to handle and he could even become the next prime minister. He had earlier indicated he may contest election for an MNA seat.
So in this setting when the JIT summoned Rehman Malik and set the date of June 23, Zardari reluctantly agreed and ostensibly Bilawal endorsed it too.
Lady luck, however, appears to be favouring Zardari and not very happy with the Sharifs. An antidote of any tricks Mr Rehman Malik may be considering is now available.
A surprise, apparently credible, witness in London has surfaced, who says he is the real author and investigator of the FIA report, which Rehman Malik claims to be his property.
The witness is ready to travel to Islamabad and testify before the JIT, if he was provided full security.
This new star is the then Deputy Director of Economic Crimes and Special Investigations in FIA, when Mr Rehman Malik was the Administrator at the time the Hudaibiya Report was written.
Mr Inamur Rehman Sehri, who spoke to this correspondent from his London home on Friday morning, says he personally dug out all the material on the Sharifs, though working as deputy of Rehman Malik, who never did anything himself but collected the data and documents and put them in an “official” FIA report and put his name to it.
Sehri says he still has suitcases full of these documents and many more and he can bring everything to Islamabad just in case Mr Rehman Malik disowns any document or tries to play games.
Sehri told this correspondent that because of his anti-Sharif investigations, the Nawaz government fired him from service in 1997 and he had to shift to London for safety and to keep his family kitchen running.
But he has kept all the documents for the ultimate day of reckoning, which he says appears to have come now.
When I spoke to Sehri, he was confident and said: “I am a Pakistani and want to play my role for the country.”
Rehman Malik was wrongly saying that the Hudaibiya report was not an FIA document, he says. “This is a mystery and I can solve it,” he adds but he is genuinely worried that if the Sharifs know that he was coming with suitcases full of papers, he may face a genuine security threat.
So it is now for the JIT and the Supreme Court to not only summon him but also ensure that he gets proper blanket security —- from his aircraft on arrival in Islamabad to his flight back to London.
PPP sources say Asif Ali Zardari is also aware of Sehri’s presence and potential and has quietly agreed that he should appear before the JIT, either with Rehman Malik or later, as the JIT may decide. He thinks his presence and corroboration will keep Rehman Malik within his limits.
What has been going on between Mr Malik and Mr Zardari is a different story and needs a detailed report but in short their relationship involves business concerns managed by Rehman Malik.
The London-based companies operated by Mr Malik with Benazir’s help, were doing oil business in Iraq, Africa and other countries. Zardari was never a part of this business. Several reports have appeared about a UN probe into Oil-for-Food scam in which Rehman Malik’s companies were also named.
What was the status of these companies and business holdings is not known.
If Mr Zardari has already settled these issues, as it may seem, that would be another matter.