Follow-up.The bullet-ridden body of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Khalid Khawaja -- who was kidnapped in March -- was discovered in North Waziristan on Friday, with his captors warning that the others kidnapped with Khawaja would meet the same fate if the government did not meet their demands, officials and the captors' spokesman said. "Khalid Khawaja is no more... we had given a deadline for the acceptance of our demands. The ISI and the government didn't take it seriously," said a mail from the Asian Tigers -- a group unheard of before that had claimed to be holding Khawaja, former ISI official Col Imam alias Sultan Amir Tarar and a British journalist of Pakistani origin, Asad Qureshi.
Political authorities in Miranshah told Daily Times by phone that Khawaja's body was discovered seven kilometres south of Mir Ali. "His body was dumped in Karam Kot. He received several bullets in the head and chest," the authorities said. A letter was also found with the body saying, "He (Khawaja) was a US agent and whoever spies for America will meet the same fate."
Separately, Khawaja's wife said she was proud of her husband's 'martyrdom'. "This is not a bad news. This is martyrdom," she told Daily Times by phone.
Separately, police arrested JUI-S leader Shah Abdul Aziz in Bannu where he was involved in negotiations with captors of the three men, local police said. "He was arrested for disrupting peace in the district," a police official said, declining to give more details.
Khawaja was kidnapped in March with militants later claiming responsibility for the kidnapping, accusing the three captives of spying. They demanded the release of Afghan Taliban commanders detained in Pakistan in exchange for them. The kidnappers had earlier released a video in which Khawaja had admitted to spying. In recent years, Khawaja had set up a human rights group focusing on religious causes. A court in February barred the government from sending abroad captured Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on a petition filed by Khawaja.
Both Khawaja and his fellow kidnapped colleague were known to have close links with the Taliban and other extremist groups. Col Imam was known to have worked with the US Central Intelligence Agency during the Afghan jihad against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1990s. He had trained many freedom fighters and leaders, including the Afghan Taliban's elusive chief, Mullah Omar. He also served as Pakistani consul general in Herat in western Afghanistan during Taliban rule and only left the country in 2001 when Pakistan officially abandoned the Taliban and joined the US-led campaign against militancy.