Pakistan journalist murder unresolved

By Rizwan Khatik - Sat Jan 14, 3:49 pm

A government investigation into the death of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad last year has failed to identifiy the killers.

Shahzad was murdered in May 2011 after he reported on alleged al-Qaeda infiltration into Pakistan’s navy. “The commission has been unable to identify the culprits behind this incident,” the inquiry said in a report made public on
Friday.

Shahzad worked for the Hong Kong-based news website Asia Times and the Italian news agency Adnkronos International.

Before his death, Shahzad said he was facing threats from the Pakistani intelligence agencies. He first went missing from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on May 29 last year. Two days later, Shahzad’s body, bearing torture marks, was found dumped beside a canal.

The inquiry says Shahzad could have been killed by elements involved in “the war on terror”, who were angered by
his writings.

“Saleem’s writings probably did, and certainly could have, drawn the ire of all the various belligerents in the War on Terror – the Pakistani state, the non-state actors such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and foreign actors,” it said.

The commission urged the government to provide compensation to Shahzad’s family, and said his murder contributed to a “climate of fear” in Pakistan.