The Murder of Journalist Saleem Shahzad - Deplorable and Tragic

Missing Pakistan journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near Islamabad

Shahzad's body was discovered less than two days after he was allegedly abducted by ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service

Declan Walsh in Islamabad, The Guardian, 1 June 2011

A prominent Pakistani journalist who investigated links between the military and al-Qaida has been found dead, triggering angry accusations against the powerful 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 Sunday evening. On Tuesday ,police said they found his body on a canal bank in Mandi Bahauddin, 80 miles south-east of the capital.

Shahzad's abandoned car was found 25 miles away. Television images of his body showed heavy bruising to his face. Media reports said he had a serious trauma wound to the stomach.

Human Rights Watch had already raised the alarm over the disappearance of the 40-year-old father of three, citing a "reliable interlocutor" who said he had been abducted by ISI.

"This killing bears all the hallmarks of previous killings perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies," said a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch in south Asia, Ali Dayan Hasan. He called for a "transparent investigation and court proceedings".

Other journalists reacted angrily, directly accusing ISI of responsibility on television and social media. "Any journalist here who doesn't believe that it's our intelligence agencies?" tweeted Mohammed Hanif, a bestselling author.

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Related:

My courageous friend and colleague - Abbas Nasir, Dawn

EDITORIAL: Saleem Shahzad: the price of truth - Daily Times

Who killed Saleem Shahzad ? - Express Tribune

What Pakistan's ISI doesn't want the world to know about Osama bin Laden's couriers - Christian Science Monitor

To read Saleem Shahzad's last published article: click Al-Qaeda had warned of Pakistan strike