Journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near Islamabad

mayfair

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
6,032
Likes
13,109
Journalist Saleem Shahzad found dead near Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad's body was found in Sarai Alamgir, nearly 200 kilometres from Islamabad on Tuesday.

Shahzad was the Pakistan bureau chief of Asia Times Online. He went missing from Islamabad on Sunday evening.

Reports claim that it has been confirmed that his body has been identified and showed signs of torture.

Earlier it had been reported that Shahzad's car had been found in Sarai Alamgir and a body had also been discovered nearby. However, it had not been identified at the time.

Days before his disappearance, Shahzad had authored an article that alleged links between navy officials and al Qaeda.
Poor sod, stepped on some badly singed tails..his articles were largely objective, informative and sans usual hyperbole. Obvious that his writings were unpalatable to some
 
Last edited by a moderator:

ejazr

Ambassador
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
4,523
Likes
1,388
May his sould rest in peace.

He was one of the best journalists on AQ in that region and always on my regular to read list. He scooped major stories like Col Imam and Khalid Khwaja videos after their abduction. He also was one of the first to report accurately the WAziristan situation back in 2005.

The last story he did was this. It was a two part story with the second focussing on Militant recruitment and training.
Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan
 

Iamanidiot

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2009
Messages
5,325
Likes
1,504
He stepped on the toes of Navy officials when he wrote an article which exposed the links between mid level navy officers and and Al-qaeda's 313 Brigade.He was a great journalist nevertheless.He was bumped by the PN guys in ISI in particular
 
Last edited:

Blackwater

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
21,157
Likes
12,211
He stepped on the toes of Navy officials when he wrote an article which exposed the links between mid level navy officers and and Al-qaeda's 313 Brigade.He was a great journalist nevertheless.He was bumped by the PN guys in ISI in particular
If people come to know that there was mole in pak military in mehran operatrion, then they will lose trust in them then pak army shop will closed.They can no longer fool there uneducated people...so poor journalist was murdered to hide the truth
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Singh

Phat Cat
Super Mod
Joined
Feb 23, 2009
Messages
20,311
Likes
8,403
Country flag
As per Najam Sethi, it is likely that SSS died during ISI torture
 

thakur_ritesh

Ambassador
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
4,435
Likes
1,733
rip to the departed soul!

As per Najam Sethi, it is likely that SSS died during ISI torture
each time i listen to najam sethi pointing his fingers at the isi and pa ever more blatantly without any remorse, i wonder when is his turn going to be. he infact talked about almost being killed in the same talk show back in the days of musharraf's dictatorship by the notorious isi, but then he was lucky to have survived. may he have long life!
 

chex3009

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Messages
929
Likes
201
Country flag
rip to the departed soul!



each time i listen to najam sethi pointing his fingers at the isi and pa ever more blatantly without any remorse, i wonder when is his turn going to be. he infact talked about almost being killed in the same talk show back in the days of musharraf's dictatorship by the notorious isi, but then he was lucky to have survived. may he have long life!
He is a house hold name in Pakistan, anything happening to him after such events, the public would take on streets. That would put ISI under even more pressure.
 

thakur_ritesh

Ambassador
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
4,435
Likes
1,733
He is a house hold name in Pakistan, anything happening to him after such events, the public would take on streets. That would put ISI under even more pressure.
chex3009,

issue is the way the isi/pa propaganda works. the same najam sethi who on most occasions chooses to talk sense and is also smart enough to toe the pa/isi line from time to time can very well be termed an indian/american agent and there goes the public sympathy/sentiment. dont forget this is the same country which not so long back was celebrating the death of salam tasser and treating his assassin as some sort of a hero and a role model, and is also the same country that likes to follow the army and isi as demi gods who can speak no lies and do no wrong, majority still feels they are the most honest.

this country very easily gets polarized on any anti india/anti US plank, and najam sethi very strongly advocates a pro india/US stand.

yes if he was to be taken out there will be a strong reaction from the pakistani press but the sentiment would wither away in days if not hours.
 

nitesh

Mob Control Manager
Senior Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
7,550
Likes
1,307
I have no love lost for this guy, but one thing is for sure here, if you try to cross the line with ISI, you are dead.
 

Dark_Prince

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
374
Likes
81
I think it is clear that notorious henchmen type organizationi.e. isi (aka Al-Qaida) killed Saleem, after reading the above article it's clear isi is behind this gruesome murder; what matters is that failed state pakistani fanboys, even knowing the truth would love to blame TTP, as isi has to be projected as "pious" islamic organization (it's only pakistanis who force themselves to believe that they are not terrorists, however pakistanis/pakistan has become synonym for terrorism and savagery)
 

Blackwater

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
21,157
Likes
12,211
rip to the departed soul!



each time i listen to najam sethi pointing his fingers at the isi and pa ever more blatantly without any remorse, i wonder when is his turn going to be. he infact talked about almost being killed in the same talk show back in the days of musharraf's dictatorship by the notorious isi, but then he was lucky to have survived. may he have long life!
Do we assume that Sethi days are numbered ????????
 

sob

Mod
Joined
May 4, 2009
Messages
6,425
Likes
3,805
Country flag
The most amazing thin from the last report filed was that Pakistan Navy had opened communication with AQ following threats to the Naval top brass. The authorities should have taken action against AQ/ 313 Brigade if this was true rather than open negotiations. If the armed forces are able to open negotiating channels with AQ then can't they hunt them down and finish them off.

We are all getting sidetracked by ISI involvement and all other things.
 

Sikh_warrior

Professional
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
504
Likes
273
ISI scripted Mumbai attack, Qaida cleared it: Shahzad book

NEW DELHI: The 26/11 terror attacks that killed 166 people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war was scripted by ISI officers and approved before its execution by al-Qaida commanders, according to a book just written by slain Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad.

The 40-year-old reporter in his book titled `Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taleban -- beyond bin Laden and 9/11' describes the Mumbai plan as one pushed through by Ilyas Kashmiri, a key al-Qaida ally with wide links with the Pakistan defence establishment. Shahzad, who was an authority on terrorism in Afghanistan and the neighbourhood, says in the book that the plan was authored by the Inter-Services Intelligence officers and embraced and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"With Ilyas Kashmiri's immense expertise on Indian operations, he stunned the al-Qaeda leaders with the suggestion that expanding the war theatre was the only way to overcome the present impasse. He presented the suggestion of conducting such a massive operation in India as would bring India and Pakistan to war and with that all proposed operations against Al-Qaeda would be brought to a grinding halt. Al-Qaeda excitedly approved the attack-India proposal," Shahzad wrote in the book, excerpts of which were published in Karachi's The Dawn newspaper on Wednesday.

Shahzad's friends and family believe the ISI may have had something to do with his kidnapping on Sunday and his death by torture and Shahzad himself had spoken of threats from the ISI. The bureau chief of Asia Times Online was killed days after he had exposed links between Pak navy personnel and al-Qaida, explaining how the devastating attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi was engineered. He is believed to have been killed for "knowing too much" about how al-Qaida has infiltrated the Pakistani defence forces, sources said. The book, yet unavailable in India, is further proof of the close ties between Pakistani officers and al-Qaida.

"Ilyas Kashmiri then handed over the plan to a very able former army major Haroon Ashik, who was also a former LeT commander who was still very close with the LeT chiefs Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi and Abu Hamza," the book says.

"Haroon knew about a plan by Pakistan`s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that had been in the pipelines for several months with the official policy to drop it as it was to have been a low-profile routine proxy operation in India through LeT.

"The former army major, with the help of Ilyas Kashmiri`s men in India, hijacked the ISI plan and turned it into the devastating attacks that shook Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and brought Pakistan and India to the brink of a war."

According to a friend of Shahzad, the slain writer and he discussed the militant infiltration in the lower ranks of the defence forces. "He also expressed a fear that there would be a rise in violence as the security establishment is really shaky," the friend was quoted as saying in the Dawn newspaper.


ISI scripted Mumbai attack, Qaida cleared it: Shahzad book - The Times of India
 

Sikh_warrior

Professional
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
504
Likes
273
ISI denies role in Saleem Shahzad killing

KARACHI: Pakistan's main intelligence agency issued a rare media statement Wednesday to deny it was behind the abduction and killing of a journalist who was investigating terrorism.

Speculation that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was linked to the slaying of Syed Saleem Shahzad has added to pressure on the agency, already facing international suspicions that elements within it sheltered Osama bin Laden in an army town before he was killed there last month by American commandos.

Before 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 and he was buried on Wednesday.

The ISI operates largely outside of the law and routinely detainees suspected militants, political activists and separatists, without charge. They can be held for months, if not years, in secret prisons.

In Baluchistan province, rights activists accuse the agency of killing rebels after abducting them.

The ISI statement, in the form of a story carried by the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan, quoted an unidentified intelligence official.

"It is regrettable that some sections of the media have taken upon themselves to use the incident for targeting and maligning the ISI," the official was quoted as saying.

The agency's operatives occasionally brief journalists, but do not normally release information through APP.

Just last week, Shahzad wrote a story about the alleged al-Qaida 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.

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.

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 email 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.

The APP report quoted the ISI officer as saying there was "nothing sinister" about the meeting.

The official said the ISI would "leave no stone unturned in helping to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice," but warned that "the media should act with responsibility to avoid any possible legal" problems. It did not elaborate.

ISI denies role in Saleem Shahzad killing | Pakistan | DAWN.COM
 

JAYRAM

2 STRIKE CORPS
Senior Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
3,282
Likes
316
Pakistani Journalist killed by ISI....?

Murdered Pakistani Journalist Had Claimed ISI Threat


This undated file photo shows Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Shahzad's Family/AP Photo)

By LEE FERRAN
June 1, 2011


A Pakistani journalist found apparently tortured to death this week had said he had been threatened by the country's intelligence service because of his sometimes scathing reports on the Pakistani armed forces and terror groups, colleagues and a Human Rights Watch official said today.

Syed Saleem Shahzad, the 40-year-old Pakistan bureau chief for Asia Times Online, was found dead on Tuesday a week after the news outlet published an exclusive report written by Shahzad that suggested al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistani navy ahead of a brazen assault on a naval base. Police said his body showed signs of torture.

Though militants are often suspected in the deaths of journalists in Pakistan, after Shahzad's death both a colleague of his and a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Pakistan came forward to say Shahzad had said in past months he felt threatened by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

A spokesperson for the ISI told The Associated Press any alleged link between the ISI and Shahzad's death was "absurd" and Shahzad's brother-in-law said "never was there any threat," according to a report by National Public Radio. Pakistan's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, visited Shahzad's home to offer his condolences and told reporters it was possible the journalist was killed over a personal matter.

But in October 2010, Shahzad told his editor at the Asia Times Online he had been summoned to the ISI offices after publishing another exclusive report about Pakistan's release of a major Taliban figure. During the meeting, the ISI demanded Shahzad retract the story and reveal his sources, but Shahzad refused, prompting a veiled threat, according to a report today by Asia Times Online.

Shahzad described the ISI meeting in an email to Human Rights Watch researcher Ali Dayan Hasan and said, "I am forwarding this email to you in case something happens to me or my family in the future."

Asia Times Online reported Shahzad sent a similar email to his editor there. When the editor suggested Shahzad lay low a while following the ISI meeting, he reportedly responded, "If I hold back and don't do my job, I might as well just make the tea."

In a rare public statement, an unnamed ISI official told Pakistan's state news agency today the meeting with Shahzad was cordial and no such threats were ever made.

"It is regrettable that some sections of the media have taken upon themselves to use the incident for targeting and maligning the ISI," the report said, paraphrasing the official. "Baseless accusations against the country's sensitive agencies for their alleged involvement in Shahzad's murder are totally unfounded."

Shahzad's colleagues at Asia Times Online and his own biography posted there reveal a history of run-ins with the feared intelligence agency.

"More recently, I am known for writing bold stories about sensitive institutions like the apex court and the armed forces," Shahzad wrote in the biography when he was in his early 30s. "Exposing the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency in Pakistani politics landed me in trouble, but intervention at a very high level by leaders of the national press forced the state apparatus to take a step back."

Colleague: 'It Had to Be the ISI'

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Shahzad's killing late Tuesday night after Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari ordered an immediate inquiry into the death.

"[Shahzad's] work reporting on terrorism and intelligence issues in Pakistan brought to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan's stability," Clinton said in a statement. "We support the Pakistani government's investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death."

However, in a pair of biting editorials, Shahzad's colleagues at Asia Times Online criticized the government for its investigations into the deaths of journalists in Pakistan.

"These are honorable and noble sentiments that will resonate around the world," one editorial said of Zardari's promise of inquiry. "The trouble is, like an echo, the words will quickly fade, and most likely nothing will be done... It will be business as usual in a country that had the most journalist deaths in the world in 2010 - 44 - and four prominent newsmen killed this year for simply doing their job. None of their killers has been brought to justice. Not one."

Pakistan ranks among the top ten most dangerous countries for journalists according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ estimates 20 percent of the murders of journalists are attributable to "government officials."

After his visit to Shahzad's home, Interior Minister Malik said orders had been given that journalists should carry small arms in order to protect themselves, Pakistan's Geo News reported.

In another sarcasm-laced editorial, another of Shahzad's colleagues and "brother" directly accuses the ISI of being behind Shahzad's disappearance and death.

"After all, when a Pakistani journalist -- not a foreigner -- writes that al-Qaeda is infiltrated deep inside the Pakistani military establishment, one's got to act with utmost courage. So you abduct the journalist. You torture him. And you snuff him," writes Pepe Escobar. "Now they finally got him. Not an al Qaeda or jihadi connection. Not a tribal or Taliban connection... It had to be the ISI -- as he knew, and told us, all along."

Malik told reporters that should any evidence emerge connecting the ISI to Shahzad's death, he would investigate.

Shahzad was buried in his hometown of Karachi today as hundreds of friends, relatives and colleagues mourned, according to an AP report.

Pakistani Journalist Saleem Shazhad Killed, Had Claimed ISI Threats - ABC News
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top