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Kazakh diplomat shot in Pakistan
 A diplomat from Kazakhstan has been shot and seriously wounded in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Sapargali Aubakirov, a deputy counsellor at the Kazakh embassy, was shot in the head at his home on Tuesday night and was in a coma, police said. They said the wounded diplomat was found on Wednesday morning and that nothing had been stolen from the home. A BBC correspondent at the scene says police believe the attack was a criminal rather than political act. | That's today's story, they can say no more |
Ehsan Sadiq, superintendent of the Islamabad police, said the diplomat's servant had left the house at 1900 on Tuesday and returned on Wednesday at 0700 to find the house locked. He contacted embassy officials who broke into the home and found the wounded diplomat. Senior Islamabad police official, Mehboob Aslam, told the Associated Press that police were investigating whether the diplomat had quarrelled with people who were visiting him on Tuesday night. Another police official told the AFP news agency a single bullet cartridge was found, but no weapon. The diplomat's car was also missing, they said. | Islamabad CSI is on the case |
UPDATE: Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan named the diplomat as Sapargali Aubakirov, a counsellor at the Kazakh embassy in Islamabad. He said Aubakirov was in critical condition. "The incident is being investigated," he said. "So far, the cause is not known." Aubakirov was in a coma on a life support system at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, said Amjad Mehmood, a doctor there. "He is in very serious condition. The treatment part is over, now let's see." Reporters saw Aubakirov being wheeled into intensive care, his head heavily bandaged. Assistant Superintendent of Police Tahir Ayub said there was nothing to indicate an act of terrorism. Asked if it could have been a suicide, he said: "That cannot be ruled out." | "There's the little matter of no gun in his hand, but that fact can be changed to fit the story later if needed" |
A security official, who asked not to be identified, quoted doctors as saying that Aubakirov had little chance of surviving. He said a .30 mm shell casing had been found in the diplomat's living room and his car was missing. Ayub said two men had stayed with the diplomat overnight. "They had food and drinks together. We saw no sign of violence. The people who were with him were known to him," he said, but declined to elaborate. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said it appeared the people who spent the night had taken the car.
Posted by: Steve 2005-01-19 |
