PM Kakar seeks Kenyan president's facilitation over probe into journalist Arshad Sharif's murder.

BEIJING -- Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Tuesday sought facilitation from Kenyan President Dr William Ruto over the finalisation of the investigation into the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif.

Journalist and news anchor Sharif was shot dead last year on October 23 during his stay in Kenya.

"The prime minister requested the Kenyan President for facilitation and finalization of the report of Special Joint Investigation Team in the murder case of late Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif," the PM Office said in a statement following the meeting of the two leaders.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation being held in Beijing, China.

Justice remains elusive even almost a year after the killing of the prominent journalist. Kenyan authorities claimed Sharif was shot dead by Kenyan police in an incident that shocked Pakistan's media community and raised several questions.

"This was a targeted killing," his wife of 11 years, Javeria Siddique, told CPJ.

Kenyan national police said Sharif was shot by a police officer after the driver of Sharif's car did not stop at a roadblock set up outside the capital of Nairobi during authorities' search for a stolen motor vehicle.

In December 2022, the Supreme Court took notice of the case and ordered a government investigation into Sharif's death.

In a December report, a government fact-finding team (FFT) found that the Kenyan police portrayal of the killing as a case of mistaken identity was 'full of contradictions' and that the involvement of 'characters in Kenya, Dubai, and Pakistan in this assassination cannot be ruled out.'

The team also noted that a Pakistan post-mortem report had documented numerous injuries on...