Pakistan: Arshad Sharif Shooting In Kenya Was Done On Purpose
He explained that the conclusion was arrived at by relevant authorities after preliminary findings of the investigation into his death...
Marvin Chege 
Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday, November 8 stated that the fatal shooting of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya was not a result of mistaken identity as revealed by Kenyan police.
In a press briefing, the minister noted that the shooting was intentional and that he was a target, adding that his two brothers, Waqar and Khurram Ahmad, who were hosting Sharif in Kenya, will be questioned over his death.
He explained that the conclusion was arrived at by relevant authorities after preliminary findings of the investigation into his death were released and part of the evidence presented in the case was analysed.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah addressing the Press. /NATION.COM.PK
"Arshad Sharif's death is not a case of mistaken identity - I can say, and, on the evidence we have so far, this prima facie is a targeted killing.
"We still need to obtain more (evidence) to confirm all this...and we have asked the Kenyan government for more data," stated Sanaullah as per Reuters.
Waqar and Khurram, originally from Pakistan, also own a shooting range named Ammodump Kweni joint in Magadi, the last place the 50-year-old journalist was seen alive. The two also wield Canadian passports.
Prima facie is a common term amongst lawyers which means that based on the first impression something is accepted as correct until proven otherwise.
Sanaullah added that the three-member security team that was sent to Nairobi to unravel the death of the journalist gave him a brief, further noting that the investigation being conducted by Pakistan is yet to be completed and a plan is underway to send the trio to Dubai, where Sharif fled before coming to Kenya.
He said the Pakistani government had already written to the Chief Justice of the country to form an independent commission to investigate the killing of the journalist.
A previous report by VICE World News, a United States (US)-based media house with bureaus worldwide, revealed that police in Kenya had shot dead the renowned journalist after he flew into the country to escape death threats towards him over his criticism of Pakistan's military and the government.
Friends and colleagues of Sharif believed that he could have been intentionally targeted for his views as he was charged in several cities in Pakistan with sedition for his alleged anti-government comments.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a statement on Twitter that Sharif “paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth – his life.”
“He had to leave the country and be in hiding abroad but he continued to speak the truth on social media, exposing the powerful. Today the entire nation mourns his death," he wrote on Monday, October 24 when news of the journalist's death went viral across the country and around the world.
In Kenya, a report filed by the General Service Unit (GSU) revealed that the occupants in Sharif's vehicle had shot at one of the GSU officers, injuring him.
"The four officers in a Toyota Landcruiser rushed to erect a roadblock with a view of intercepting the said vehicle. On reaching the barrier, he was challenged to stop but he defied and opened fire at our officers which triggered them to respond.
The confession countered information from an initial report whereby the driver of the ill-fated vehicle drove into a friend's compound after they were attacked in what was a case of mistaken identity.
