Pakistan initiates fresh investigation into Saudi diplomat’s 2011 assassination

KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday said a special investigation team had been constituted to probe the 2011 assassination of a Saudi diplomat in Karachi, as the provincial counterterrorism chief told Arab News his team was working on some “fruitful leads” provided by the country’s intelligence.

Hassan Al Qahtani was shot dead in the upscale Defense neighborhood of Pakistan’s southern seaside metropolis when at least four attackers on two motorbikes intercepted his car after he left his residence.

According to an official handout issued on Wednesday, the country’s interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed assured the Saudi ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki that a special investigation team in the province of Sindh was probing the assassination and would present its report within 30 days.

“All those responsible in the act of terrorism will soon be brought to court of law,” the minister said.

The two officials also discussed bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as the Pakistani minister thanked the kingdom for looking after his country’s workforce.

While several investigation teams have probed Al Qahtani’s assassination in the past, the mystery surrounding his high-profile murder has not been solved.

Sindh’s deputy inspector general police of the counterterrorism department (CTD) Omar Shahid Hamid notified a special investigation team to probe the assassination on Saturday, calling it a matter of “extreme national importance.”

Speaking to Arab News on Wednesday, Hamid said the investigation of the high-profile murder case was underway.

“A new JIT [joint investigation team] has been formed to probe the case,” he said. “Some fruitful leads have also been developed by the intelligence that we are currently working on.”

The counterterrorism officer, however, declined to divulge further information due to the sensitivity of the issue.