ISLAMABAD - Additional Attorney General for Pakistan (AAGP) Thursday provided the names of the Special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and now, this team will probe the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif. He informed the court that the five-member JIT is comprised DIG Police Headquarters, Islamabad, Awais Ahmed, Muhammad Aslam from Inter-Service Intelligence, Murtaza Afzal from Military Intelligence, Waqar-ud-Din Syed from Federal Investigation Agency, and Sajjid Kiyani from Intelligence Bureau, while the support will be provided by the SSP Investigation, Islamabad. A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar conducted hearing of the suo motonotice of the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya. The court asked the new JIT to file its first interim report of the investigation in the court on 1st week of January, 2023, and said if the members find that their work is being hampered then they could directly approach the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s office through a written application. During the hearing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a reply to the court in line with the directives issued in the previous hearing. It stated that the ministry as well as the Pakistan missions in Nairobi and Dubai were corresponding “frequently” with authorities for facilitating and furthering the process of investigation and gathering evidence in the case, the reply said. The reply said the ministry had established contact with the relevant Kenyan authorities and “reached out [to them] at the highest political level”, pointing out that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directly spoken to the Kenyan president and specifically requested assistance in this regard. The ministry further said that it was of the view that Pakistani authorities may also explore legal avenues for gathering evidence and completing the investigation process in Kenya and the UAE. “It is further submitted that due to the efforts of the MoFA and Pakistan Mission in Dubai, the latter sent a request for legal assistance from the concerned authorities in Pakistan. In this regard, the said request has already been dispatched to the Ministry of Interior to prepare and send a request for legal assistance,” the reply said. The ministry said it was committed to assisting the court and facilitating the special JIT constituted by the government in the case. Later, the bench adjourned the hearing of the case till the first week of next month.