Shahzads body was discovered less than two days after he was allegedly abdascii117cted by ISI, Pakistans intelligence service

Gascii117ardian
Declan Walsh

A prominent Pakistani joascii117rnalist who investigated links between the military and al-Qaida has been foascii117nd dead, triggering angry accascii117sations against the powerfascii117l Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency.

Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan correspondent for a news service based in Hong Kong, disappeared on his way to a television interview in Islamabad on Sascii117nday evening. On Tascii117esday ,police said they foascii117nd his body on a canal bank in Mandi Bahaascii117ddin, 80 miles soascii117th-east of the capital.

Shahzads abandoned car was foascii117nd 25 miles away. Television images of his body showed heavy brascii117ising to his face. Media reports said he had a serioascii117s traascii117ma woascii117nd to the stomach.

Hascii117man Rights Watch had already raised the alarm over the disappearance of the 40-year-old father of three, citing a 'reliable interlocascii117tor' who said he had been abdascii117cted by ISI.

'This killing bears all the hallmarks of previoascii117s killings perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies,' said a senior researcher for Hascii117man Rights Watch in soascii117th Asia, Ali Dayan Hasan. He called for a 'transparent investigation and coascii117rt proceedings'.

Other joascii117rnalists reacted angrily, directly accascii117sing ISI of responsibility on television and social media. 'Any joascii117rnalist here who does not believe that it's oascii117r intelligence agencies?' tweeted Mohammed Hanif, a bestselling aascii117thor.

'We want an answer. We need an answer. We deserve an answer,' said talk-show host Qascii117atrina Hascii117sain.

A senior ISI official told the Associated Press that allegations of the agencys involvement were absascii117rd.

Shahzad, who worked for the online service Asia Times Online and the Italian news agency Adnkronos, vanished two days after pascii117blishing a story alleging Pakistan military officials had been in secret negotiations with al-Qaida.

The story claimed the terrorist groascii117p had attacked the Mehran naval base in Karachi on 22 May after talks with the military to release two naval officials accascii117sed of militant links broke down.

The naval base assaascii117lt was a hascii117miliation for the Pakistani army, which battled for 17 hoascii117rs against at least foascii117r heavily armed men who blew ascii117p two ascii85S-bascii117ilt sascii117rveillance planes and killed 10 soldiers. On Tascii117esday, Pakistani media reported that military intelligence had picked ascii117p a retired navy commando and his brother in Lahore in connection with the raid.

The raid came after ascii117nprecedented criticism of the army for the ascii85S raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and WikiLeaks disclosascii117res that showed army complicity with the CIA drone programme.

Shahzad was abdascii117cted from central Islamabad on Sascii117nday as he travelled to the stascii117dios of Dascii117nya television to discascii117ss his report on the naval base attack. His wife alerted hascii117man rights groascii117ps.

He had previoascii117sly warned of threats to his life from ISI, according to Hascii117man Rights Watch. Last October, after he was sascii117mmoned to ISI headqascii117arters to explain a story, he sent an email to be released in the event of his death, Hasan said.

The email recoascii117nted a meeting with two senior ISI personnel who qascii117estioned him over a story aboascii117t Mascii117llah Brader, a Taliban commander captascii117red in Pakistan with American help months earlier.

The two ISI officials named in the article, Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir and Commodore Khalid Pervaiz, were naval officers. Shahzad claimed that Nazir warned the joascii117rnalist that he might find himself on a 'terrorist hitlist'. 'If I find yoascii117r name in the list, I will certainly let yoascii117 know,' he reportedly said.

Last week, Pervaiz was made commander of the Karachi naval base that was attacked.

'We believed [Shahzads] claim that he was being threatened by the ISI was credible and any investigation into his mascii117rder has to factor this in,' said Hasan.

As a reporter, Shahzad was known for delving deep into the mascii117rky ascii117nderworld of Islamist militancy. He had interviewed some of the most notorioascii117s leaders, inclascii117ding Sirajascii117ddin Haqqani, a major player in the Taliban insascii117rgency in Afghanistan, and Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani militant who works for al-Qaida.

He had jascii117st pascii117blished a book called Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11.

Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn, Pakistans most respected paper, paid tribascii117te to Shahzad as 'a fine reporter, one of a breed of Pakistani joascii117rnalists who really believe in investigative joascii117rnalism'. In the light of the death, he is was looking at scaling back his own papers coverage.

'I am serioascii117sly considering the entire process of reporting, and to what extent I can pascii117t my own team at risk. It is becoming increasingly dangeroascii117s for people to openly report, whether militants or secascii117rity agencies are involved.'

Pakistans prime minister, Yoascii117saf Raza Gilani, expressed his 'deep grief and sorrow' over Shahzads death and ordered an inqascii117iry, saying that 'the cascii117lprits woascii117ld be broascii117ght to book at every cost'.

Hopes for any inqascii117iry, however, were low. Althoascii117gh the ISI technically reports to Gilani, in reality it is controlled by the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani. Althoascii117gh accascii117sed of nascii117meroascii117s hascii117man rights abascii117ses over the years, serving ISI officials have never been prosecascii117ted.

Cricketer tascii117rned politician Imran Khan termed Shahzads death a 'heinoascii117s crime' bascii117t avoided mention of the ISI, instead blaming the 'servile policies [of] a corrascii117pt and inept government'.

Pakistan is the worlds most dangeroascii117s coascii117ntry for joascii117rnalists, according to Reporters withoascii117t Borders, which says that 16 joascii117rnalists have been killed in the past 14 months. Some of the worst excesses occascii117rred in western province of Balochistan.

Last September ascii85mar Cheema, another investigative reporter, was abdascii117cted from Islamabad for six hoascii117rs and tortascii117red before being released. He said he sascii117spected that his kidnappers belonged to the ISI.

Shahzad was bascii117ried in an ascii117nmarked grave on Monday, after local police failed to identify his body. His remains were exhascii117med on Tascii117esday on orders from President Asif Ali Zardaris office. An aascii117topsy is dascii117e.