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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan journalist found killed |
| 2006-06-16 |
| A little warning from Perv. Be careful what you report. A Pakistani journalist who reported the death of an alleged al-Qaeda commander has been killed, officials say. The body of Hayatullah Khan, 30, was discovered near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal region. "He was shot in the back," an official, Fida Mohammed, told AFP news agency. He said the killing appeared to be recent. Mr Khan disappeared in December after reporting that Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed by a US missile - not in a bomb making accident as claimed by Pakistan. Relatives found Mr Khan's body 3km south of Mir Ali near the Afghan border on Friday. He had been handcuffed and appeared to have been shot from behind while trying to escape, his brother, Ehsanullah, told the BBC. The journalist had lost a lot of weight and had grown a long beard. Mr Khan's brother said the handcuffs were of a type usually used by security forces. The BBC's Haroon Rashid in Peshawar says it is a mystery who kidnapped and killed Mr Khan. Both the militants and the authorities denied knowledge of his whereabouts during the six months he was missing. Local tribal journalists' organisations have blamed the government for his death because it failed to rescue him. Mr Khan was seized by unidentified gunmen on 5 December. Days earlier, the Pakistani authorities had said an al-Qaeda commander they named as Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed with four others in a blast at an alleged militant hideout in North Waziristan. The official version was that bomb-making materials had exploded by accident. But locals said the men were killed by a missile fired from an unmanned US drone. Mr Khan took photographs of what appeared to be pieces of a US missile at the scene. Pakistan is a close ally of the US in its "war on terror" but reports of US strikes on Pakistani soil provoke anger among opponents of the government in Islamabad. Hayatullah Khan worked for a Pakistani English-language newspaper and a foreign photo agency. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said he had in the past been threatened by security forces, suspected Taleban members and tribesmen for his reporting. He leaves behind three children and a widow. |
| Posted by:john |
| #1 Mr Khan a Pakistani journalist had been kidnapped in December 05 after reporting that al-Qaeda commander Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed by a US missile. He was founed handcuffed and appeared to have been shot from behind while trying to escape. IOW, killed by a Islamic media critics |
| Posted by: RD 2006-06-16 23:32 |