ISI faces more heat after reporter's killing
Speculation that Pakistan's military spy agency had a hand in the death of a prominent journalist has further discredited the organisation already facing one of its worst crises after the killing of Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil.
Saleem Shahzad, who worked for Hong-Kong based Asia Times Online and Italian news agency Adnkronos International, disappeared fromIslamabad on Sunday and his body was found in a canal with what police said were torture marks. Suspicion immediately fell on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, bringing more bad publicity after the killing of bin Laden by US special forces near the capital.
"The ISI's image had already been tarnished and it is under so much pressure," said a former ISIofficer. "It's never been as bad as this before."
Shahzad was investigating suspected links between the military and al-Qaida, a highly sensitive subject at a time when Washington is wondering how bin Laden was able to live for years in a town about a two-hour drive from ISI headquarters.
Shahzad, a 40-year-old father of three, had voiced concern about his safety after receiving threatening telephone calls from the ISI and was under surveillance since 2010.
Analysts have not ruled out the possibility that he may have been killed by militants. Shahzad often wrote about al-Qaida and other groups.
Shahzad had on several occasions been warned by ISI officers over his reports they considered "detrimental to Pakistan's national interest".
His last report on May 29 gave details of contacts between the Pakistan navy and al-Qaida operatives and how the terror group had infiltrated the Mehran base in Karachi and helped organize the devastating attack on May 22.
Last year, he was picked up by suspected intelligence agents, driven to an unknown location, stripped naked and whipped with leather and a wooden rod.(Source:TOI)
Saleem Shahzad, who worked for Hong-Kong based Asia Times Online and Italian news agency Adnkronos International, disappeared fromIslamabad on Sunday and his body was found in a canal with what police said were torture marks. Suspicion immediately fell on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, bringing more bad publicity after the killing of bin Laden by US special forces near the capital.
"The ISI's image had already been tarnished and it is under so much pressure," said a former ISIofficer. "It's never been as bad as this before."
Shahzad was investigating suspected links between the military and al-Qaida, a highly sensitive subject at a time when Washington is wondering how bin Laden was able to live for years in a town about a two-hour drive from ISI headquarters.
Shahzad, a 40-year-old father of three, had voiced concern about his safety after receiving threatening telephone calls from the ISI and was under surveillance since 2010.
Analysts have not ruled out the possibility that he may have been killed by militants. Shahzad often wrote about al-Qaida and other groups.
Shahzad had on several occasions been warned by ISI officers over his reports they considered "detrimental to Pakistan's national interest".
His last report on May 29 gave details of contacts between the Pakistan navy and al-Qaida operatives and how the terror group had infiltrated the Mehran base in Karachi and helped organize the devastating attack on May 22.
Last year, he was picked up by suspected intelligence agents, driven to an unknown location, stripped naked and whipped with leather and a wooden rod.(Source:TOI)
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