Letter from Qatari prince delivered to JIT: sources

ISLAMABAD: A letter by Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani has been delivered to the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the prime minister’s family’s financial dealings abroad, sources revealed on Monday.

Officials said the letter, delivered first to the Pakistan Embassy in Doha, reached the Foreign Office from where it was transported — without any tampering — to the JIT headquarters at the Federal Judicial Academy, sources informed further.

Last week, the JIT sent a second letter to Qatar’s Al-Thani family, giving them three options to record their statements.

The first option mentioned that two JIT members could leave for Qatar to record their statements in relation to the probe.

The second option was for the royal family to send a written response to aid the investigation.

According to the third option, a statement by the Qatari family via video link could also be recorded with the JIT.

Earlier, on May 29, the JIT’s head — Federal Investigation Agency’s Wajid Zia — had informed the Supreme Court bench conducting the implementation proceedings of the Panama case that the Qatari prince had been summoned to record his statement with the JIT but he was yet to respond to their call.

Meanwhile, the investigation of the JIT — which is working in light of the Supreme Court's April 20 judgment — are ongoing and the high-profile probe team is expected to submit its progress report to the apex court on June 7.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s elder son, Hussain Nawaz, appeared for the fourth time before the JIT.

After a session that lasted approximately three-and-a-half hours, Hussain spoke to the media outside the venue and assured them that he will appear before the JIT as many times as he is summoned.

Hussain had appeared before the JIT on June 1 and was probed for about six hours regarding his London properties. Previously, he appeared before the JIT on May 28 and May 30.

On Friday, the premier’s younger son, Hassan Nawaz, also appeared before the JIT and was questioned for more than seven hours. He did not speak to the media after leaving the Federal Judicial Academy.

National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmad was also questioned by the JIT for around 12 hours recently. 

The JIT — headed by an FIA additional director — includes officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence, National Accountability Bureau, State Bank of Pakistan and the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.