By: Jessica Ties Impunity Watch, Asia ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani journalist Sayed Saleem Shahzad was abducted in Islamabad Sunday night while driving from his home to a television station. On Tuesday, his body was discovered 155 miles outside of Islamabad and showed indications of torture.

A colleague of Shahzad, Zafar Mehmud Sheikh, described Shahzad as “an extremely critical writer” and stated that “his writings in Asia Times were not liked by many circles…he was always getting threats, direct life threats not from one side, from all sides.” Amnesty International is demanding that an investigation into the death of Shahzad include Pakistan’s security and intelligence agencies. Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has issued a statement denying its involvement in the killing of Shahzad. The ISI is known for its support of Islamist militants and has been accused of detaining political activists for months or years without formally charging them. Speculation of the ISI’s involvement in the killing of Shahzad arises partially from an article in the Asia Times in which Shahzad wrote that Pakistan had freed a detained Afghan Taliban commander. According to an email sent by Shahzad to Human Rights Watch researcher Ali Dayan Hasan, he was summoned to the ISI office shortly after the article was published and was pressured to reveal his sources or retract his story. Shahzad refused to do either. In an email sent to a friend following the meeting at ISI headquarters, Shahzad stated that he was told by an official that a hit-list had been recovered from a recently arrested terrorist. The official then stated, “If I find your name in the list, I will certainly let you know.” While Shahzad interpreted the statement as a threat, the ISI maintains that the meeting “had nothing sinister about it” and that “it is part of the Wing’s mandate to remain in touch with the journalistic community…ISI also makes it a point to notify institutions and individuals alike of any threat warning received about them.” The ISI had reportedly delivered several warnings to Shahzad regarding his writings however, it is also possible that his death was the result of his writings provoking one of the various militant groups he was in contact with who felt that Shahzad had gained too much information. For more information, please see: Amnesty International –Pakistan must probe intelligence agencies as body of journalist is found – 31 May 2011 Associated Press of Pakistan – Salim Shahzad death source of concern for entire nation: ISI official – 1 June 2011 CNN – A Pakistani journalist is killed and many questions remain unanswered – 1 June 2011 MSNBC – Pakistan spy agency denies role in killing – 1 June 2011