Foreign Policy:

U.S. officials have obtained classified intelligence that shows senior officials in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s premier spy agency, ordered the abduction and murder of Saleem Shahzad, a well-known Pakistani journalist.

This guy has written many time for the Asia Times and is BIG DEAL with some ground breaking stuff from the inside

Shahzad, who had written extensively about the relationship between militants and the Pakistani military, disappeared on May 29. He was found dead two days later in a canal outside of Islamabad, his body showing signs of torture. He had recently published an article that accused al Qaeda of masterminding the May 22 attack on a Pakistani naval base in Karachi, and said that the attackers were aided by maps provided from compatriots in the base.

U.S. officials described the attack on Shahzad as “barbaric and unacceptable,” saying that it was likely a deliberate attempt by the ISI to silence criticism from within Pakistan’s journalist community. Senior ISI officials have visited journalists following Shahzad’s death, asking them to quell their criticism and rally around nationalistic themes.

Obama administration officials must now debate how to present its intelligence to the Pakistani government, a U.S. official said. The issue could potentially aggravate the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, which is already tense following the U.S. raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which killed Osama bin Laden.

Politico:

In another possible blow to U.S.-Pakistan relations after the killing of Osama bin Laden, Obama administration officials believe that the country’s intelligence service ordered the “barbaric and unacceptable” killing of a journalist who had written about ties between the country’s military and Al Qaeda militants, according to a report Tuesday.

Intelligence surrounding the late May killing of Pakistani reporter Saleem Shahzad, 40, suggests that senior officials at Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence ordered the murder to silence his criticism

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58306.html#ixzz1RFK17Ona

Guardian UK, a little less circumspect:

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

, 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.

The ISI is NOT on the other side, THEY ARE THE OTHER SIDE, and DO, in the absence of resolve by other parts of the Pakistani people and govt, ACCURATELY represent Pakistan, it’s plans, and its security.

Pakistan is unfortunately an enemy of the people of the USA.

Related articles

• The story that killed Saleem Shahzad - The Hindu (news.google.com)
• Pakistan’s Spies Tied to Slaying of a Journalist (3quarksdaily.com)
• Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad killed (teabreak.pk)
• Two Deaths in Pakistan: The Terrorist and the Reporter (time.com)
• Editorial: Syed Saleem Shahzad’s Courage (nytimes.com)
• Who Killed Saleem Shahzad? (thedailybeast.com)
• Syed Saleem Shahzad killing: Pakistan spy agency denies role - Christian Science Monitor(news.google.com)