Top lawyer defending Sharif is shot dead

Iqbal Raad, 52, was shot dead at his office in Karachi’s Paradise Chambers, located in the busy Saddar market area of the city on Friday afternoon. The streets around his office were deserted as most Muslims were at mosques to say their weekly prayers.

Raad was shot dead by three gunmen who entered his office and sprayed the place with bullets. One witness said the gunmen “looked trained and very professional.” They also killed an office employee and a friend of Raad’s who was present in the office at the time.

Police officials say that a fourth man was waiting in a car downstairs and the killers made a quick get-away.

Raad was a lawyer for Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and had been instrumental in fulfilling legal formalities on behalf of the Prime Minister and his co-accused when they were charged by the military government withhijacking a PIA airliner and ordering its diversion in a bid to stop General Pervez Musharraf, then Army Chief, from landing in Pakistan.

Sharif faces a death sentence if convicted. His lawyers told reporters in Karachi that Raad’s death was a “serious setback to the defence case.”

Raad had been appointed Attorney General for the Sindh province when Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister for the second time in 1997. He was removed when the Sharif government was dismissed through a military coup in October 1999.

He was an integral part of the defence team of the former PM and had also resigned from defending Sharif when the court put restrictions on reporting of the case. Earlier this week, however, Raad had returned to his position after serious discussions with Sharif and the court.

Police official Akhtar Gorchani told newsmen in Karachi that they belived that the killing “would affect the smooth functiong of the Sharif case.”

Gorchani said that while the assailants were unidentified, “we believe this has been done with keen timing in mind. The visit of US President Bill Clinton is also an important factor as the incident could be used to make out case to tell Clinton that the counsel of Sharif are being targeted.”

Raad played an important role in Sharif’s link with the media as he smuggled in questions and got back answers.

“He was a professional and at the same time quite a pleasent person who tried to comply to all our requests,” said Rafat Saeed, a journalist based in Karachi.

Raad is survived by his wife and a son. His body will be flown to his home town, Faisalabad, for burial.