ISLAMABAD – Two members of Joint Investigation Team, probing offshore assets of Sharif family headed to Qatar on Tuesday morning to record the statement of Qatari prince Hammad bin Jassim.
According to multiple media reports, the high-powered JIT decided to send two of its members, NAB’s representatives Irfan Mangi and MI’s Brig. Kamran Khursheed to Doha to record Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al-Thani’s statement in the purview of the money trail of Sharif family.
Reportedly, Prince Sheikh Hamad had a letter to the JIT, formulated by the Supreme Court to provide him with the schedule for its visit to Qatar’s capital Doha.
It is the third letter that the Qatari prince has written to the JIT on the same Panama case probe in which he has informed the team that he would welcome it in his office and verify all the content and facts that he wrote in his letter produced in the Supreme Court of Pakistan last year with regard to his family’s business association with the Sharif family of Pakistan.
Highly-placed sources close to Prince Hamad divulged on Sunday that the prince declined to visit the Pakistan Embassy in Doha, on the grounds that the jurisdiction did not apply on him for the investigations.
The JIT had hinted to the prince that it would visit Doha for his statement to gather the relevant documents. The team asked for the meeting/recording of the statement in Pakistan’s Embassy.
The prince has clarified that he would establish each and every word of his letter through irrefutable evidence that was produced in the Supreme Court. He has informed that all the documents required proving his contention would also be made available once the JIT visits Doha in person.
It bears mentioning that the JIT has already grilled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PM’s son-in-law and cousin Captain Safdar and Tariq Shafi respectively.
Moreover, Hassan Nawaz has also appeared before the team three times whereas Hussain Nawaz, the elder son of premier faced JIT six times.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was interrogated on July 3 whereas Maryam Nawaz is set to face the team for the first time on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court has given a deadline of July 10 to the JIT to submit its final report after which it would be decided whether to disqualify the premier or not.