July 05, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1428

SIALKOT, July 4: A Sialkot-based man wanted for the murder of a Belgian woman claims he is innocent and will face the charge in Belgium courts if the Pakistani authorities hand him over to the Interpol.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, accused Mirza Iftikhar Mehmood refuted the news published in the press that he had confessed to killing Mireille Havelaerts in Brussels on July 31, 1986, claiming he had no girlfriend in Brussels.

He said allegations by the Belgian police against him were baseless.

He appealed to the Pakistani government to provide him legal help, saying the Belgian government was also helping the heirs to the deceased woman.

He said even though he was confident that he would get justice from Belgian courts, the Pakistan government should think a lot before handing him over to the Interpol or the Belgian government.

He says he lived in Brussels in 1986 for a few months for work.

He said had he been guilty, he would have gone underground in Pakistan to flee the case. He questioned why the Belgian police had not taken any action against him in the last 21 years.

On June 29, 2007, police arrested Mehmood in the Imam Sahib Locality on the request of the Interpol.

Prior to his arrest, Mehmood was running a small-sized business of interior decoration in Sialkot. He got married to Uzma Iftikhar in 1991. He has two sons and two daughters — Danish Iftikhar, Tabish Iftikhar, Nazish and Kainaat Iftikhar.

The Belgian police believe Mehmood killed Havelaerts by drugging her during his stay in Brussels 21 years ago.

The accused is in Sialkot jail on judicial remand by the local court. His remand will expire on July 14, 2007.

Injured: Two police constables were shot at and injured by dacoits on offering resistance in separate incidents here on Wednesday.

At Jodheywali village, constable Muhammad Imran was shot injured by four robbers on putting up resistance. The accused fled away firing in the air. Imran was admitted to hospital in a critical condition.

In another incident, constable Qaisar Bhinder was shot at and injured by dacoits when he resisted during a robbery at Phalora. The injured constable was admitted to hospital in a critical condition.