Who really knows who killed him?
"Pakistani journalist is found dead" by Nahal Toosi, Associated Press / June 1, 2011
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani journalist who investigated Al Qaeda’s alleged infiltration of the navy and told a rights activist he had been threatened by the country’s intelligence agencies was found dead yesterday. Police said his body showed signs of torture.
A CIA hit? Was he exposing CIA-Duh or was he a mouthpiece for propaganda?
Syed Saleem Shahzad’s death underscores the dangers of reporting in Pakistan, which in 2010 was called the deadliest country for journalists. It will also increase scrutiny of Pakistan’s security agencies, already under domestic pressure since the May 2 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden....
U.S. sending signals!
Shahzad, a correspondent for the Asia Times Online as well as Italian news agency Adnkronos International, went missing late Sunday from Islamabad.
Shahzad’s body was found about 6 miles from his car in Mandi Bahaudiin district outside the capital.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official denied that the agency had anything to do with Shahzad’s case.
“It’s absurd,’’ the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record.
Right. Governments never do this kind of thing to people.
Shahzad, 40, dabbled in some sensitive topics, which would probably have caught the eye of Pakistan’s security establishment. The country’s military and spy networks regularly try to pressure media outlets and individual reporters.
Those U.S. agencies are the press here.
In October, Shahzad wrote an Asia Times article that said Pakistan had freed an Afghan Taliban commander who had been arrested with much fanfare, so that he could “play a pivotal role in backchannel talks through the Pakistani army with Washington.’’
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Related:
“CIA Mouthpiece” Saleem Shahzad of Asia Times Goes Missing
ISI Purportedly Holding “CIA Mouthpiece”
Pakistani Journalist Found Dead After Reported Abduction By Intelligence Agency (NOT by “Al-CIA-da”)
Also see: Stop Using Saleem Shahzad’s Death To Target ISI
Which is exactly what my war-promoting paper does!
"Pakistan spy agency denies role in journalist’s death; He had reported on terror; said he was threatened" by Ashraf Khan, Associated Press / June 2, 2011
KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistan’s main intelligence agency issued a rare media statement yesterday to deny it was behind the abduction and killing of a journalist who was investigating terrorism....
Before Syed Saleem Shahzad was killed, he told a human rights activist that he had been threatened by intelligence agents. His body was found Tuesday showing signs of torture; he was buried yesterday.
The ISI operates largely outside of the law and routinely detains suspected militants, political activists, and separatists, without charge. They can be held for months, if not years, in secret prisons.
Good thing U.S. intelligence agencies never do such thi.... oh, right.
In Baluchistan province, rights activists accuse the agency of killing rebels after abducting them.
Baluchistan is the civil war you nearly never read about.
Internationally, the agency is best known for its alleged support of Islamist militants....
Same as the CIA!
Just last week, Shahzad wrote a story about the alleged Al Qaeda infiltration of the navy. He wrote the story after a 17-hour insurgent siege of a naval base in Pakistan’s south. That only compounded the embarrassment of the country’s security agencies.
Related: Sending Signals to Pakistan
Within days, Shahzad vanished. His wife contacted Hasan, the rights activist, as Shahzad had asked in case he disappeared. Hasan has said he was told by Pakistani government officials that they believed Shahzad was in ISI custody.
In recent weeks, Pakistan’s news outlets have produced scathing coverage of the security establishment, prompted by its being caught unawares by the May 2 US raid that killed bin Laden in Abbottabad in northwest Pakistan, as well questions over how it did not know the terror chief was living there. There are also suspicions that elements within the ISI may have sheltered bin Laden.
See: Bin Laden Stories Show AmeriKan Media Not to be Believed
And beating the lie to death doesn't help.
Related: Bin Laden raid gets little credence in conspiracy-minded Pakistan
Shahzad came under ISI scrutiny in October when he wrote in the Asia Times that Pakistan had freed a detained Afghan Taliban commander. Within days, he was summoned to an ISI office, according to an e-mail he sent to Ali Dayan Hasan, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Intelligence officials pressured him to reveal his sources or retract the story. He refused.
At the end of the meeting, one of the intelligence officials issued what he took as a veiled threat. The official told Shahzad intelligence agents had recently arrested a terrorist who was carrying a hit list. The official then said he would tell Shahzad if his name was on the list....
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Epilogue:
"Syed Saleem Shahzad will be forgotten after some time. His employer, Asia Times Online, will get the most out of publicity. And foreign news media will continue to push our young journalists into danger for dollars, fame and publicity. And thanks to Hillary Clinton for her statement, but it won't bring the smiles back to Saleem's wife and three kids....
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He turned out to be right.
Also see: Globe Editorial Telling truths about Al Qaeda
As if they ever would.
