Author: Rezaul H Laskar & Ruchika Talwar
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 1, 2011
Introduction: Syed Saleem Shahzad had reported
on al-Qaeda cells in Pak navy; had been under pressure from ISI
A Pakistani journalist who reported last week
on links between the al-Qaeda and the Pakistan navy, was found dead in Sarai
Alamgir near the town of Jhelum, about 200 km from Islamabad today, police
said.
Syed Saleem Shahzad, 40, was the Pakistan
bureau chief of the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online, and a correspondent
for Italian news agency Adnkronos International.
Shahzad had a history of receiv ing threats
from the ISI. Shortly after he went missing on Sunday evening, rights groups,
including Human Rights Watch (HRW), said they believed he was in the custody
of Pakistani intelligence agencies.
The body had marks of torture on the face
and torso, Geo News reported, quoting the autopsy report.
The TV station showed a black and white picture of Shahzad's face with visible
injuries.
In an article titled `Al-Qaeda had warned
of Pakistan strike', published by Asia Times Online on May 27, Shahzad reported
that the terrorist attack on the PNS Mehran naval base on May 22 was carried
out by alQaeda after their talks with the Pakistan navy over the release of
naval officials arrested for links with the terrorist organisation failed.
In October 2010, Shahzad had written to an
HRW official to tell him about a meeting he had had with two ISI officers
who had asked him to retract an earlier report he had written about a prominent
Afghan Ta liban leader's arrest in Pakistan. Shahzad had refused, and had
been issued what appeared to be a threat.
"I am forwarding this email to you for
your record only if in case something happens to me or my family in future,"
Shahzad had written at the beginning of his account to HRW's Ali Dayan Hasan.
Shahzad disappeared on his way to the studios
of Dunya TV in Islamabad on Sunday, where he was to discuss his report on
the PNS Mehran attack on the current affairs show In Session.
Asma Chaudhry, the show's anchor, told The
Indian Express that she last spoke to the journalist at around 5.45 pm on
Sunday, some time after which his phone was switched off.
"He told me he was on his way. We waited
for 40 minutes or so, but he didn't come. His phone was switched off. After
some time, we got a call from his brother-in-law who said Shahzad had told
his family that he was going to our office, but they couldn't reach him on
his phone. That was when we got suspicious," Chaudhry said.
This afternoon, two days after Shahzad disappeared,
reports surfaced that his car had been found abandoned in Sarai Alamgir with
his identity cards and a diary inside. A body was found about 10 km away,
which was by evening identified as Shahzad's.
Ta hir Ali, a close friend and confidant of
Shahzad's, told The Indian Express that the Sarai Alamgir police had buried
the body before the family could reach the spot.
Unclaimed bodies can be "temporarily"
buried, he said. The body was exhumed later in the evening and taken to Islamabad,
from where it will be taken to the journalist's home town of Karachi for the
funeral.
In part 1 of his two-part article for Asia
Times, Shahzad, an expert on alQaeda and terrorism and the author of Inside
alQaeda and Ta liban: Beyond bin Laden and 9/11, reported that the "deeper
underlying motive (for the PNS Mehran attack) was a reaction to massive internal
crackdowns on al-Qaeda affiliates within the navy".
Pakistani naval intelligence, Shahzad reported,
had identified al-Qaeda cells operating inside several navy bases in Karachi,
and had arrested at least 10 people in a series of operations. This had triggered
direct threats from the militants, who "made it clear that if those detained
were not released, naval installations would be attacked".
The navy then decided to "open a line
of communication with al-Qaeda", the report said. "A l-Qaeda demanded
the immediate release of the officials without further interrogation.
This was rejected." According to the
report, al-Qaeda struck back through the May 22 attack, using maps, pictures
and the location of hangars provided by insiders at PNS Mehran.
Part 2 of Shahzad's report, 'Recruitment and
training of militants', had not been published by Asia Times until late Tu
esday evening.
In his October 2010 email to HRW's Hasan,
Shahzad said that he had been called to the ISI headquarters on October 17,
2010 for a meeting with ISI Media Wing director-general Rear Admiral Adnan
Nazir and his deputy, Commodore Khalid Pervaiz.
The ISI officials, Shahzad wrote, had told
him that a recent report by him - saying that Pakistan had freed Afghan Ta
liban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar so that he could play a role in
"back channel talks through the Pakistani army with Wa shington"
- had caused a lot of embar
rassment to Pakistan.
Nazir, Shahzad wrote, wanted him to issue
a denial.
When Shahzad refused, Nazir told him, "We
have recently arrested a terrorist... (who) had a hit list with him.
If I find your name in the list, I will let
you know." The New Yo rk Times quoted HRW's Hasan as saying that Shahzad's
abduction and killing bore all the hallmarks of the ISI. "It is quite
clear by his own account and from his reports that they were deeply unhappy
with his reporting," Hasan told NYT.
Shahzad had felt a threat from the ISI for
about three years, NYT said. He had shared his fears with friends and family,
people close to him in Pakistan told The Indian Express.
In 2010, Umar Cheema, an investigative reporter
with The News daily, was abducted and tortured, allegedly by ISI agents.
Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokesperson for President
Asif Ali Zardari, tweeted: "A terrible sickness has permeated our society.
Saleem Shahzad was a friend, colleague and intrepid reporter.
Answers are needed." Prime Minister Yo
usuf Raza Gilani expressed "deep grief and sorrow" and promised
that those responsible for the killing "would be brought to book at every
cost."
