Murdered Pakistani Journalist Had Claimed ISI Threat

[Tronic]

What Price Truth

By Zofeen Ebrahim


KARACHI, Pakistan, Jun 1, 2011 (IPS) - When journalist Umar Cheema, 35, first heard of the death of his colleague Syed Saleem Shahzad, considered an expert on Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, on May 31, he could not help but relive his day-long captivity with one of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies last year on Sept. 4.

Shahzad, 40, was Pakistan bureau chief for Asia Times Online and also contributed to an Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI).

His book ‘Inside al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11’ was launched last month. But observers say it was the first part of his May 27 article about Al-Qaeda infiltration in Pakistan’s navy, following the May 22 attack on a naval base in Karachi, that may have ruffled a few feathers.

His body was found two days after he went missing on Sunday May 29. Human Rights Watch said it has credible information that Shahzad was in the custody of Pakistan intelligence.

Shahzad’s body was fished out of a canal by the police in Punjab province near Mandi Bahauddin, a small town 162 km from the federal capital, Islamabad, where he lived.

The post mortem report stated that there were 15 torture marks on his body but no bullet wounds.

Recalling his encounter with Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency, Cheema says that when he was stripped naked, hung upside down and beaten severely for a solid six hours, "the only thought that came to my mind was I’ve done nothing wrong except write the truth. And I was paying the price for that," he told IPS over the phone from Islamabad.

Cheema now lives a life of paranoia that he is being followed every time he steps out of his house. While he confesses to have confined himself to his home, he refuses to throw in the towel.

While Cheema may have been sent home alive to tell his tale and censor others, in Shahzad’s death, he says, the message is loud and clear: "Shut up, or get killed!"

But the journalist community also believes that in Shahzad’s case the intention may not have been to kill him since he was very well connected to the agencies as well as the militants. "About a year back, he had been shot in the chest and the wound had probably not healed completely, so when he was hit on the same spot, it proved fatal," Cheema surmised.

It also makes sense to Adnan Rehmat, who heads Intermedia, an organisation that works to build the capacity of Pakistani reporters. "Most journalists who have been murdered previously have been shot at and killed, not picked up, tortured and then killed." Rehmat said the killing is indicative of a mindset that prevails within the "deep state" that when push comes to shove they can use the "strongest censorship".

And by releasing the photo of Shahzad’s dead body to the media, the message sent out is that "you can criticise but only in general terms; when you get into specifics they don’t like it," he said.

Today Pakistani media, considered quite free and robust, is caught between a rock and a hard place. They seem to continually come in the crosshairs of both the militants and the military. In 2010, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Pakistan was the deadliest country for a journalist to work in.

Shahzad's death is the third this year in which a journalist was clearly killed because of his work. Nasrullah Khan Afridi died when his car blew up in Peshawar, and popular TV reporter Wali Khan Babar was gunned down on the streets of Karachi.

"Al-Qaeda and all the other related conflicts have been an everyday reality for us for the last ten years, and there are very few who have a nose and the courage to make sense of what is going on; Shahzad had been doing that," said Rehmat, who was a close friend of the slain journalist.

Through his writings, Shahzad showed the mainstream media that there existed "multiple perceptions, wheels within wheels and nuances in this conflict, and he was helping us understand them," Rehmat said, adding: "He was one of the finest in investigative journalism." In 2006, Shahzad was held for five days by Taliban forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

His name will now be added to the long list of 70 journalists who have been killed since 2000. The last three years have seen a rise in targeted killings of journalists, with at least 17 killed in the line of work.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has ordered an investigation into the tragic incident.

Exactly a week before Shahzad’s death, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) had pressed Interior Minister Rehman Malik to "conduct an urgent appraisal of investigations by local authorities into the murders of journalists, and to make public a report stating the progress of such investigations," according to an IFJ press release.

CPJ counts 15 cases of Pakistani journalists purportedly killed for their work since the 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. None of their killers have been brought to justice.

Condemning the killing of Shahzad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "His work reporting on terrorism and intelligence issues in Pakistan brought to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan’s stability." She said Washington welcomed Pakistan’s launch of an investigation into the killing.

While there is no set technique to protect yourself from either the militant groups or the agencies, according to Rehmat, Shahzad took "calculated risks".

He would always leave a chain of information of his whereabouts behind when he went on one of his adventurous journeys for his stories, Rehmat said.

But Shahzad’s death also demonstrates the urgent need to protect the community that "brings information that empowers us," he added.

Intermedia has launched, in conjunction with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, a programme and plans to introduce safe practices in journalism, raise awareness about risks journalists face, and set up a safety fund to help journalists in distress.

Rehmat said the consultations Intermedia has held with the media stakeholders, including civil society, the security apparatus, independent media, and government, have highlighted the need for raising awareness among senior journalists, including editors, reporters and camera persons, about the importance of "developing standard safety protocols that can serve as guidelines on reducing risks for reporters in the field."

"A Pakistani journalist in the field faces appalling levels of intimidation, which is never documented, and there is no institutional responsibility. We took five major media houses on board and discussed the set of safety protocols that need to be followed, and they were quite amenable to the idea," Rehmat explained.

With an initial 42,000 Euros, Intermedia will begin to disburse the safety fund to journalists or their families in need in the next few weeks. It hopes that with lobbying with business groups, philanthropists and most importantly, media houses, the kitty will remain well endowed. (END)

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: What Price Truth - IPS ipsnews.net

[Currywurst]

Dave,

Unlike in the West custodial deaths in nations especially like Pakistan are not a rarity and in some case's while the intention might have been to only to cause bodily harm.. Deaths have occurred.. My contention is that this is probably the case for this brave soul..

While we have over the years seen the quite dubious nature of the ISI .. I fail to see the logic in the ISI putting another nail in their coffin by committing this crime(Intentionally).. Unless of-course Mr. Shehzad being the Investigative journalist that He was.. Uncovered something very sinister that the authorities(ISI.. PAK Army) did not want becoming public knowledge..

I had recently seen an interview of his where he was pointing out connections in the PAK Navy and AQ associated org's.. signifying the strong penetration of Jihadi organizations in the Military w.r.t the Base attack.. He was an excellent journalist who provided folks like us a deeper understanding of the turmoil in his country.. There are very few Shehzad's left in that country.. May his soul rest in peace

[Double Edge]

While we have over the years seen the quite dubious nature of the ISI .. I fail to see the logic in the ISI putting another nail in their coffin by committing this crime(Intentionally).. Unless of-course Mr. Shehzad being the Investigative journalist that He was.. Uncovered something very sinister that the authorities(ISI.. PAK Army) did not want becoming public knowledge..[/FONT]

This is the puzzling aspect of this case

ppl seem pretty confident that it was the ISI. If not the IS then who else ?

When i read that asian times article, it seemed to me that the militants might have a bigger axe to grind with him for exposing their role. Though this might appear to be a weaker reason

[Parihaka]

The story that killed Saleem Shahzad

“Journalist sabka dost hota hai (Journalists are everybody's friends),” was Saleem Shahzad's response when I asked him about the Taliban connections of a common acquaintance, “What matters is if he gets the story or not.” In his career, Shahzad had certainly been accused of “playing all sides of the fence” — the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), but his brutal death showed that he had made some very powerful enemies as well.

Many are shocked with the boldness of his abductors — that a prominent journalist could be taken from the heart of Islamabad's high security zone, somewhere between the capital's F-8 and F-6 sectors. When his body surfaced in a river canal, bearing marks of torture — broken ribs, the use of rods — it showed that those who meant to kill him, also wanted to send a message to others like him. Some have written that it was Shahzad's last article, drawing links between the “PNS Mehran” naval base attacks and jihadist elements within the Navy which was the motive for his killers. And the angry reaction from other Pakistani journalists has been, “If the all-powerful ISI isn't behind the killing, then surely it can and must find out who is.”

But drawing the world's attention to al-Qaeda's infiltration of the Pakistani military goes beyond any one article Shahzad may have written — the running theme of much of his reporting in the last few years. He is the only journalist to have interviewed terrorist commanders Ilyas Kashmiri and Baitullah Mehsud, consistently holding the view that even as they planned diabolical attacks on the Pakistani army, they had help from retired or “rogue” Army officers. Kashmiri's 313 Brigade, he believed, had been originally raised by ISI officers to fight against India, and diverted to fighting on the Afghan border when the India-Pakistan peace process forced a drawback on the ‘Kashmiri jihad.' Shahzad said these officers had continued their links with Ilyas Kashmiri.

His book

While many are now comparing Shahzad's death to other journalists who have been assaulted or killed over the last few years (at least 12 have been killed in the past year, according to Reporters without Borders), one may also see parallels with the death of a Pakistani Army officer in October 2008. Maj-General Ameer Faisal Alvi, the retired chief of the elite Special Service Group (SSG) (similar to India's National Security Guards), was travelling to his office in Islamabad's G-11 sector , when he was shot by gunmen on motorbikes. Alvi had threatened to expose two generals he said had been cutting deals with TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud, and warned of a nexus between ISI operatives, the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), and Punjabi Taliban group Sipah-e-Sahiba. Shahzad's writing chronicled links between the ISI, al-Qaeda, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In his book ‘ Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11: Inside the Taliban and Al Qaeda', released 10 days before his death, Shahzad showed how the 26/11 attack plan was originally planned in an ISI special cell, and then abandoned. He shows correspondence that proved a former major and LeT operative Maj. Haroon Ashiq had picked up the plan from Ilyas Kashmir, and then took charge of the logistical planning of the 26/11 attacks. Maj. Haroon is perhaps the biggest link between the two stories: the prime accused in the assassination of General Alvi, arrested and charged, but acquitted in the trial. Incidentally, Ilyas Kashmiri's name appears in the original charge sheet of General Alvi's murder as a co-conspirator.

Both men, Alvi and Shahzad, left emails to be released in case they were killed. While both clearly knew about such a threat, neither was willing to give up telling the world what they believed.

Ironically, the world wasn't ready to listen. Shahzad firmly believed that the jihad virus did not run across the Pakistani army, but had taken control of a few key officers who were in dangerously senior positions. When he spoke to Pakistani officials of al-Qaeda infiltration, he got, understandably, no audience. Even here in India, Shahzad said, few were interested in his theories about 26/11. At a lecture at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Analysis (IDSA) in New Delhi last year, he said, the audience seemed less interested in the al-Qaeda link to 26/11 as they were to fixing the Mumbai attacks on the top leadership of Pakistan's government and army. He warned that al-Qaeda's plans, and that of ISI officials working with them remained to ignite an India-Pakistan war. Their aims are met, he said, each time the peace process falters, as he warned of more such attacks sponsored by radicalised insiders in the Pakistani military and al-Qaeda, carried out by the TTP and the LeT, in India and Pakistan.

The problem of radicalised officers dates back to the vision of General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s, a devout Muslim, who believed in raising Pakistan's Army as “Allah's army.” Author Shuja Nawaz, whose brother, Army Chief Asif Nawaz, died mysteriously in 1993, details Zia's efforts in his book ‘ Crossed Swords,' in particular, his encouragement of recruits from madrassas and the Jamaat-e-Islami, and of bringing Tableeghi Jamaat preachers to deliver sermons every week at garrisons. Interestingly, in the wake of the “PNS Mehran” base attack, and commando complicity in the planning, General Kayani passed a rule effectively banning Tableeghis from entering any cantonment area. The rule followed the discovery that several officers had been taking study leave to travel with the Tableeghis, and instead training at militant camps in Waziristan. In a sense, al-Qaeda has managed to complete the task General Zia, unknowing of its repercussions, set out to do. “Insiders,” former military officers and soldiers, have, in recent years, been charged with various terror attacks inside Pakistan, including assassination attempts on General Musharraf, the GHQ attack in Rawalpindi, the Parade Lane Mosque massacre, in which 17 children of army officers were among 36 gunned down, and the Lahore Police academy attack.

Syed Saleem Shahzad had been pointing to this trend of radicalisation, to the enemy within Pakistan's forces for years. He died not so much for writing about the trend, as perhaps for the fact that his voice was now being heard and taken seriously, especially with the publication of his book. A trend of radicalisation, like the Jhelum in which Saleem's body was found, whose flow won't be easy to stem, or to reverse.

( Suhasini Haidar is Deputy Foreign Editor, CNN-IBN. She interviewed Syed Saleem Shahzad on May 8, 2011.)

[dave lukins]

This is the puzzling aspect of this case

ppl seem pretty confident that it was the ISI. If not the IS then who else ?

When i read that asian times article, it seemed to me that the militants might have a bigger axe to grind with him for exposing their role. Though this might appear to be a weaker reason

If militants were involved would they not admit it as a dire warning to other journalists, or others who wish undermine their objectives?

[dave lukins]

Dave,

Unlike in the West custodial deaths in nations especially like Pakistan are not a rarity and in some case's while the intention might have been to only to cause bodily harm.. Deaths have occurred.. My contention is that this is probably the case for this brave soul..

While we have over the years seen the quite dubious nature of the ISI .. I fail to see the logic in the ISI putting another nail in their coffin by committing this crime(Intentionally).. Unless of-course Mr. Shehzad being the Investigative journalist that He was.. Uncovered something very sinister that the authorities(ISI.. PAK Army) did not want becoming public knowledge..

I had recently seen an interview of his where he was pointing out connections in the PAK Navy and AQ associated org's.. signifying the strong penetration of Jihadi organizations in the Military w.r.t the Base attack.. He was an excellent journalist who provided folks like us a deeper understanding of the turmoil in his country.. There are very few Shehzad's left in that country.. May his soul rest in peace

If Mr Shehzad had indeed uncovered sinister goings on within ISI or the Army that 'they' wanted stopped, then someone, somewhere, made the decision to silence him. I fear this was not an accidental death in custody but a determined action to kill.

[Double Edge]

If militants were involved would they not admit it as a dire warning to other journalists, or others who wish undermine their objectives?

Yeah, they would, they have to maintain their street cred and would not keep mum about it.

So by ellimination this leaves the ISI, albeit, indirectly & circumstantially

Shezad's article sheds some light on the reasons for the PNS Mehran attack, it was a lesson to the Pak military by way of a minor mutiny ie insiders were involved.

He warned that al-Qaeda's plans, and that of ISI officials working with them remained to ignite an India-Pakistan war. Their aims are met, he said, each time the peace process falters, as he warned of more such attacks sponsored by radicalised insiders in the Pakistani military and al-Qaeda, carried out by the TTP and the LeT, in India and Pakistan.

Why would Al-Q & their ISI handlers want to ignite an India-Pakistan war ?

What objectives would that serve for Al-Q & ISI.

Nobody is going to win, if cooler heads prevail then the result will be a stalemate. Otherwise both sides enter a nuclear threshold with only left standing.

What good is either of these outcomes for the ISI & Al-Q ?

AL-Q might be able to swipe a nuke during a standoff, but there's more hurdles involved after.



However can certainly see the interest in keeping up the enmity if not going so far as sparking a war as that allows them to exist. They have an interest in the Pak military allowing them to exist, providing Al-Q sanctuary and the only way that is maintained is if they were considered potenially useful in the event should hostilities break out. But there's also inherent limits to what irregulars can achieve as well. Only good for small skirmishes or a Kargil. Actually, strike that, they were not even good enough for Kargil, as it was later found out the supposed irregulars were light infantry in mufti.

From this i conclude that actually sparking off a war is not as useful as keeping the idea of it alive in the background ie maintain the status quo rather than change it.

[Agnostic Muslim]

Saleem Shehzad certainly didn't think it was a courteous heads up. He feared for his life and sent that email to Human Rights Watch, lest something happens to him. Its not me who considered that a threat, it was Saleem Shehzad.

Given the content of the email describing the meeting in his own words, I would have to argue that SS appears paranoid. There is nothing in the meeting, per SS himself, that could be construed a direct or indirect threat, and the meeting itself was friendly and cordial.

Yet, that is not what Saleem Shehzad communicated to his boss, his colleagues or even to his friends at Human Rights Watch. His email too, was sent quoting specifically that line as a veiled threat. Whether you wish to believe it or not doesn't matter, Human Rights Watch and all of Saleem Shehzad's colleagues are in an uproar against the ISI.

Again, quoting that line as a 'threat' only makes SS appear paranoid with respect to the meeting and ISI. How on earth are LEA and intelligence agencies supposed to warn any high profile individuals if their 'warnings' are going to be interpreted as 'threats'?

I take it Umar Cheema was also not abducted by the ISI.

Was he? He assumes he was. But whether he was or not does not establish SS's abduction and killing by the ISI.

[commander]

If militants were involved would they not admit it as a dire warning to other journalists, or others who wish undermine their objectives?

But Dave wouldn't that expose that ISI and Al-Qaeda link which ISI denies ?? Because the journalist has just released an report that ISI and Al- Qaeda has links ??

[Agnostic Muslim]

But Dave wouldn't that expose that ISI and Al-Qaeda link which ISI denies ?? Because the journalist has just released an report that ISI and Al- Qaeda has links ??

The journalist released a report on the presence of AQ cells within the military, not of institutional ties between the military/ISI and AQ.

The journalist was also clearly stated in the same report that the military cracked down pretty hard on the AQ cells they discovered, and in return encurred the 'wrath' of AQ, which manifested itself in the Navy bus bombings and the PNS Mehran attack.

Now, if SS's report is largely true, then what is of concern is that even after the Military broke the AQ Cell mentioned, there were people in influential enough positions sympathetic with AQ to tip off AQ on the movement and location of the detained men.

Someone influential enough as that could have also ordered the 'hit' on SS. But again, this is is all conjecture based on an assumption that SS's report was largely accurate in its details.

[commander]

The journalist released a report on the presence of AQ cells within the military, not of institutional ties between the military/ISI and AQ.

I am not telling the entire ISI/Military has 'ties' with AL-Qaeda. But there are SOME inside both ISI & Military who have links and unfortunately both ISI/Military are not able to ( or just don't want to ) get rid of those few.

When a nations pride and it's security is at stake there is nothing wrong in sacking and sending them to prison IMO.

[Double Edge]

Given the content of the email describing the meeting in his own words, I would have to argue that SS appears paranoid. There is nothing in the meeting, per SS himself, that could be construed a direct or indirect threat, and the meeting itself was friendly and cordial.

Then how do you explain his death ?

[S2]

Condolences

Syed Saleem Shahzad was a good investigative journalist. I've quoted extensively from his interviews conducted with Qari Ziaul Rahman and I'm very sad to read of his murder.

I concur with Lukins-this is murder. By whom, though, is questionable. Aside from the ISI and Al Qaeda I could easily see Pakistani nationalist factions taking offense to such and being quite brutal in their retribution.

To that end I'm inclined to give the ISI its due as a professional organization. Shahzad would have held greater value to them alive and working than dead IMV.

This is a severe disappointment. A real asset to my understanding of Pakistan and this war has been lost forever. God bless him and my condolences to his family and friends.

[Asim Aquil]

Then how do you explain his death ?

Hmmm How about we let a proper investigation explain his death. If you go through all the media reports it has been reported over and over that at least the navy has a few elements sympathetic to Islamic causes. There is nothing he said that others haven't said already - and are living and breathing. I provided a link about how a former SSG-N officer has been arrested for supplying a map to PNS Mehran.

[Double Edge]

If you go through all the media reports it has been reported over and over that at least the navy has a few elements sympathetic to Islamic causes.

There is nothing he said that others haven't said already - and are living and breathing.

Right, so why was he killed then ? This is the mystery.

Is the timing of his death shortly after the PNS attack purely coincidental, don't think so.