LeT commander Lakhvi's lawyer dies after brief illness

Khwaja Sultan Ahmed, the lawyer of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, died in Lahore on Saturday following a brief illness at the age of 82.

Ahmed's son-in-law Muhammad Hasan told PTI that the noted lawyer had been admitted in Lahore's Ittefaq Hospital on December 29 after he was diagnosed with meningitis.

"He recovered but a few days ago, he contracted pneumonia which proved fatal," Hasan said.

He was a well known advocate and several of his associates went on to serve in the superior judiciary, including former Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Sharif.

During his 60-year career, Ahmed represented several leading politicians and noted personalities in high-profile.

Ahmed had defended former premier Nawaz Sharif when he was charged with hijacking after he issued orders to prevent the landing of an aircraft carrying then army chief Pervez Musharraf in 1999.

Ahmed’s younger son Khwaja Haris has served as Advocate General of Punjab province.

While defending Lakhvi after he was charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Ahmed played a key role in stymieing the prosecution’s efforts to take forward the case.

In his last conversation with PTI, Ahmed had claimed that India had declared him persona non grata and it might not issue him a visa to join a commission that is set to visit India to interview officials who played a key role in investigating the Mumbai incident.