MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - A world journalistsâ watchdog on Tuesday urged Pakistan to help find a correspondent who was kidnapped after reporting on the alleged killing of an Al Qaeda commander. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the authorities should âact with the utmost speedâ after gunmen on Monday abducted Hayatullah Khan in the restive region of North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.
Khan -- who works for the Urdu language daily newspaper Ausaf and the European Pressphoto Agency -- had earlier taken pictures of shrapnel apparently from a US missile that locals said killed Egyptian militant Hamza Rabia. The account contradicted that of the Pakistani government, which said that Rabia, the alleged number three in the Al Qaeda hierarchy, died when munitions exploded inside a house on Thursday, killing four other people. | Which explains why the world press is so upset |
âWe call on the Pakistani government to do everything in its power to find Hayatullah Khan,â Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. The committee said that, according to its research, Khan had received numerous threats from security forces, alleged members of Afghanistanâs ousted Taleban regime and local tribesman because of his reporting.
Five men with AK-47 assault rifles forced Khanâs car off the road, his brother Mohammad Ehsan told the watchdog. The brother, who was also in the car, said the gunmen were âlocal peopleâ. âIt is imperative that local officials in this troubled and lawless region act swiftly to save the life of this brave journalist,â the committeeâs Cooper said.
A delegation from the Tribal Union of Journalists on Tuesday met with local administration chief Zaheer ul Islam and demanded immediate action. âWe donât know who abducted him,â Islam told AFP. âThe gunmen could be Taleban or the abduction could be the result of some personal feud.â
The house where the explosion happened belongs to Khanâs maternal uncle, Mohammad Siddiq, family sources said. Two of Khanâs cousins died, including 17-year-old college student Abdul Wasid and seven-year-old Mohammad Aziz. | So the "kidnapped" journalist's family was sheltering Hamza Rabia when he was helizapped, huh? And he just happened to find evidence a US missile hit the house before he went "missing". |
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