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Pakistani politician killed in London

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Sept 17, IRNA -- British police have launched a murder investigation after a senior Pakistani politician was found dead outside his north London home on Thursday evening.

Imran Farooq, a co-founder of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party, was reported to have been killed in broad daylight in Edgware by at least one attacker who stabbed and beat him to death.

'When officers arrived, they found an Asian male, aged 50, suffering from multiple stab wounds and head injuries. He was treated by paramedics at the scene but was pronounced dead at 18.37. The next of kin have been informed,' a police statement said.

The murder scene has been cordoned off but no arrests have been made.

Detectives were said to be interviewing witnesses and trying to secure any CCTV footage from the part of north London where Farooq lived.

The MQM is the fourth largest political party in Pakistan, and the dominant party in Karachi.

It was founded in 1984 by Altaf Hussain, who like Farooq, came to London in 1992 to seek asylum, claiming they faced persecution in their homeland.