Mir Zubair Mahmood Zubair will be assisted by Kaleem Imam, an additional director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), in the case.
KARACHI: A high-profile Pakistani investigator, who led the probe in the kidnapping and murder case of US reporter Daniel Pearl, will travel to Kingston, Jamaica to look into the death of coach Bob Woolmer.
Mir Zubair Mahmood Zubair will be assisted by Kaleem Imam, an additional director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), in the case and the duo is expected to fly out on Wednesday.
But Zubair made it clear that Kaleem and he were going to Kingston to help with their expertise if required and their initial role was of observers in the case.
The Karachi policeman had headed the Pearl investigation and has been acknowledged for his courage in the case.
Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl was kidnapped in the southern city of Karachi in January 2002 while researching a story on Islamic extremists. A video of his decapitation was later delivered to the US consulate.
Police caught a British-born militant Sheikh Omar and three Pakistani militants in connection with the crime. They were sentenced to death in 2002 but have appealed against the verdict.
He said how much they could involve in the Woolmer investigations depended entirely on the cooperation that would be extended by the Jamaican authorities.
"We are going there to basically assist them. That is our agenda. But that also depends entirely on their response. I think our primary task will be to keep our government and the Pakistan Cricket Board informed of any progress in the case," Zubair said.
Woolmer died in Kingston on March 18 after Pakistan were beaten by Ireland and knocked out of the World Cup.
Till now there are various theories about how he was killed and Jamaican investigators are now also looking into the possibility that he might have been poisoned.
Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board have confirmed that Zubair and Imam were being flown to Kingston because the government was a bit edgy on this issue and wanted its own people to be present into the investigations into the Woolmer
death.
"Basically there is no agreement between Pakistan and Jamaica on police cooperation in such cases so unless the Jamaican authorities allow it, the two Pakistani investigators don't have any writ there in the case," said one source, who is well versed with the case.
In the Pakistan camp the belief is strong that Woolmer was not murdered but died of natural causes.
Pakistan manager Talat Ali reaffirmed on a television show on Monday that he was the first person from the Pakistan management to reach the spot where Woolmer was found lying unconscious in his hotel room and that the doctors had told him he was breathing.
"The ambulances took around 15 minutes to come and just 13 minutes after he was taken to hospital doctors told us the sad news that he had died," Talat said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}