ISLAMABAD: An FIR pertaining to the murder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq in London in Sept 2010 would be registered in Pakistan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Tuesday.

He said it was a high-profile murder case having international repercussions and the revelations made during interrogation of three suspects by Scotland Yard and a local joint investigation team (JIT) were serious in nature.

“On the basis of the JIT report and related facts, it has been decided that an FIR of the murder will be registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Islamabad,” he told a press conference.

Asked whether the FIA was empowered under the law to register the FIR of a murder case, he said the agency had been given powers under the Protection of Pakistan Act for the Imran Farooq murder case, and the FIR would be registered under the law.

Asked if MQM chief Altaf Hussain would also be booked in the case, the interior minister said the JIT would continue its investigation into the role of the three suspects in the murder and the rest depended on how the investigations proceeded.

On the expiry of remand period of the three suspects, there were only two options — either to set them free or register an FIR against them, the minister said.

The decision to register an FIR of the Dr Imran Farooq murder case was announced the day when two officials of Military Police were killed in Karachi by gunmen riding a motorcycle.

Chaudhry Nisar condemned the incident, saying that such desperate acts by terrorists could not weaken the government’s resolve to fight terror. “We will fight out and defeat terrorists in Karachi, the Federally Admi­nistered Tribal Areas and elsewhere.” He said the struggle to make Pakistan a peaceful country had entered a decisive phase.

INGO REGISTRATION: The minister said 129 international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) had applied online for registration by deadline of Nov 30. He announced that the deadline had been extended for another month as a goodwill gesture.

The submission of applications in such a large number negated the suspicions and objections against the INGOs’ registration raised by certain countries and organisations.

Before the introduction of the policy, hundreds of INGOs were operating in the country but only 19 of them were registered.

The extension in the deadline for INGOs’ registration was a manifestation of the government’s desire to work with these organisations, the minister added.

But representatives of INGOs failing to apply for registration even during the extended period would have to leave the country by Jan 1, he warned.

About the suspended EU-Pakistan readmission agreement, Chaudhry Nisar said an EU delegation, during a recent meeting with him, had agreed to address concerns over deportation of Pakistanis.

He said the agreement would be discussed clause by clause in talks between the two sides to be held in Brussels next month. Chaudhry Nisar expressed concern over the treatment meted out to Pakistani nationals in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran, and said human rights of Pakistani nationals must be respected.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2015