LONDON: A 75-year-old man who was extradited from Pakistan was on Thursday convicted of the murder of a UK police officer nearly 20 years ago.
Piran Ditta Khan fled Britain after the shooting of police constable Sharon Beshenivsky who was killed as she tried to foil a robbery at a travel agency in November 2005.
The rare fatal shooting of a police officer on duty in Britain triggered widespread shock and revived calls for police to routinely carry guns.
Khan is the last of the seven men involved in the raid in Bradford in northern England to be convicted.
Prosecutors said the former takeaway boss was the group’s ringleader.
Although he did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid he played a “pivotal” role in planning it and knew that loaded firearms were to be used.
This made him guilty of Beshenivsky’s murder “as surely as if he had pulled the trigger on that pistol himself,” prosecutors said.
Khan was convicted by a majority of 10-1 jurors at Leeds Crown Court in northern England.
Beshenivsky, who was 38 and had three children and two step children, was gunned down on her youngest daughter’s fourth birthday. She had been a police officer for just nine months.
Her female colleague Teresa Milburn was shot in the chest in the incident but survived. Neither officer was armed.
Police superintendent Marc Bowes welcomed the verdict as the “culmination of 18 years of hard work, tenacious grit and determination to bring Khan before the courts.”
“Today as always our thoughts remain with PC Sharon Beshenivsky and her family, Sharon went to work to protect the public, she responded to a call for help alongside her colleague Teresa but tragically never came home,” he added.
Khan, who was arrested in Pakistan in January 2020, was extradited to the UK last April.
The other six gang members have previously been jailed in connection with the shooting, including a Somali national who was sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in jail.
Man extradited from Pakistan convicted of killing UK police officer
https://arab.news/z5rmt
Man extradited from Pakistan convicted of killing UK police officer
- Piran Ditta Khan fled Britain after the shooting of police constable Sharon Beshenivsky during a robbery in 2005
- Beshenivsky, a 38-year-old mother of five children, was gunned down on her youngest daughter’s fourth birthday
Qatar, Pakistan resolve to boost strategic, economic cooperation at Doha talks
- Both countries urge dialogue on Afghanistan amid renewed border tensions between Islamabad and Kabul
- Discussions focus on bilateral trade and investment, energy, defense, manpower and labor and culture
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Qatar on Tuesday agreed to deepen their strategic and economic cooperation during high-level talks between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Sharif’s office said.
Sharif visited Qatar along with a high-level delegation on the invitation of Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The Pakistani premier also held meetings with Qatar’s trade and defense ministers to discuss cooperation in various domains.
The visit came at a time when Pakistan is seeking closer economic engagement with Gulf partners amid its broader push to stabilize the economy and attract investment, while maintaining security and defense cooperation with key regional states.
During their meeting in Doha, PM Sharif and Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international developments, according to the Pakistan prime minister’s office.
“They reaffirmed the strong brotherly relations between Pakistan and Qatar and expressed satisfaction at the growing momentum in political, economic and institutional ties,” Sharif’s office said.
“Discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, energy, defense, manpower and labor and culture, with both sides stressing the importance of their task force to accelerate cooperation in all these areas.”
Pakistan and Qatar maintain strong trade and investment ties. In 2022, the office of Qatar’s emir said the Qatar Investment Authority planned to invest $3 billion in Pakistan, targeting sectors including transport, aviation, education, health, media, technology and labor.
Nearly 300,000 Pakistanis live and work in Qatar, according to Pakistan’s foreign office, with many employed in health, education, engineering and public services, as well as construction and transport. The two countries engage through forums such as the Bilateral Political Consultations and the Joint Ministerial Commission.
Sharif said he had productive discussions with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on how the two sides could transform their brotherly ties into mutually beneficial economic relationships.
“We also took stock of the regional situation,” he said on X. “Pakistan and Qatar will continue to work together for peace and stability in the region and beyond.”
DIALOGUE WITH AFGHANISTAN
Earlier, Sharif and Qatar’s Deputy PM Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani discussed the situation in Afghanistan and called for dialogue to support regional stability.
The meeting took place amid renewed tensions after Islamabad carried out airstrikes last week on what it described as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) targets inside Afghanistan. Kabul said the strikes killed civilians and vowed to respond to what it called a violation of its sovereignty.
“Regional developments were also discussed, in particular the situation in Iran and Afghanistan,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “Both sides emphasized the importance of dialogue, de-escalation and collective efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.”
This was the second time in less than six months that Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan. The last strikes triggered heavy, weeklong clashes between the neighbors along their border before Qatar and Turkiye mediated a ceasefire between them in Oct. last year.
Separately, Sharif held meetings with Qatar’s State Minister for Trade Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Sayed and a delegation of the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA), highlighting Pakistan’s investment-friendly reforms.
He invited QBA members to explore opportunities in infrastructure, logistics, energy, agriculture, technology and export-oriented manufacturing, his office said.
