ISI given clean chit in Hamid Mir case

Islamabad - Mir was critically injured on April 19, 2014, when unknown suspects opened fire on his car on Sharea Faisal in Karachi.

By Our correspondent

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Published: Mon 11 Apr 2016, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Mon 11 Apr 2016, 10:12 AM

An inquiry commission, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, has ruled out the involvement of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the attack on veteran journalist Hamid Mir in Karachi two years ago.
In a 41-page report, the three-judge commission, which also includes Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, observed that allegations about country's premier intelligence agency's possible involvement in the attack were based on 'suspicions, assumptions or apprehensions'.
Mir was critically injured on April 19, 2014, when unknown suspects opened fire on his car on Sharea Faisal in Karachi.
The attack took place right after he had landed at Karachi airport. The incident was widely covered by both national and international media.
But Geo TV - for whom Mir worked as an anchor - launched a campaign against the ISI. For several hours, the network aired reports accusing the agency of involvement in the attack while prominently flashing the photograph of then ISI director-general Lt-Gen (retd) Zaheerul Islam.
After investigating the incident for nine months, the inquiry commission drafted a report which stated that, prima facie, there was a tug of war among some journalists and the ISI, because some media persons had told the commission that the spy agency was unhappy with their reporting.
The report also observed that there was a complete failure on the part of law enforcement agencies to investigate the attack.
Allegations based on suspicions
> Hamid Mir was critically injured on April 19, 2014, when unknown suspects opened fire on his car on Sharea Faisal in Karachi.
> After the attack, Geo TV - for whom Mir worked as an anchor - launched a campaign against the ISI.
> However, a three-judge commission observes that allegations against ISI were based on 'suspicions, assumptions or apprehensions'.
> The commission says some media persons had told it that the spy agency was unhappy with their reporting.
news@khaleejtimes.com


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