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F'abad lawyers condemn Raad's murder

RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: Prominent local lawyers have strongly condemned the dastardly assassination of Iqbal Raad, counsel of the deposed prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in the plane hijacking case, and two others at Karachi.

In their separate statements, Advocates Mohammad Azhar, Syed Mohammad Aslam Shah, Talib Hussain, Khalid Bashir, Shamim Akhtar Khattak, Mirza Mohammad Amin and Ijaz Ahmad said that the brutal assassination of Iqbal Raad was the result of a deep conspiracy hatched against the peace-loving citizens.

They said that the government had utterly failed to provide protection to lawyers community, and demanded inquiry in Iqbal Raad murder case by a Judge of the High Court.

The lawyers said that the protection of the life and property of the citizens was the supreme responsibility of the government which it should maintain at all costs.

They also demanded adequate compensation for the bereaved family of Iqbal Raad and the other two, and apprehension of the culprits within the minimum possible time.

The erstwhile members of the national and provincial assemblies, Zahid Tausif, Mohammad Akram Ansari, Abdul Mannan, Mohammad Farooq, Safdar Shakir, Zeeshan Elahi, Mohammad Afzal Khan, Sanaullah, Mohammad Islam, Ghulam Rasool and Safdar Rehman have also condemned the brutal murder of Iqbal Raad and said that the murder was a planned conspiracy to deprive Nawaz Sharif of defence in the plane hijacking case.

They demanded that the government should take appropriate measures to protect the life and property of lawyers and other citizens. They supported the stand of lawyers of Nawaz for shifting the trial venue to Islamabad, Lahore or Rawalpindi, instead of Karachi. They also expressed their sympathy with members of the bereaved families of Iqbal Raad and the other two.