Most of Mr. Saleem Shehzad's colleagues have been targeting ISI which forces every patriot, who has links in the armed forces, rethink who was Saleem Shehzad and who was he serving? Ever since day 1, Mr. Saleem Shehzad's colleague at Asia Dispatch website Ms. Carol Anne Grayson has continued her rhetoric of "blame the ISI whether you have proofs or not", quoting articles from the Zionist propaganda machines like Express Tribune, BBC, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, New York Times, The Hindustan Times, Geo TV News Updates and several other 5th column anti-Pakistan media outlets. Solid evidence at-hand clearly shows that Mr. Saleem Shehzad and his international colleagues were involved in high level espionage and yellow journalism against the state of Pakistan, (See Facebook version). However, as some groups and governments use Syed Saleem Shahzad’s death to jack up pressure on the ISI, murder of prominent journalist has left a genuine question: who killed him and why? Statements coming from overseas and from Shahzad’s close friends blame Pakistani intelligence agency but some people have a second opinion: a third hand played the trick to pressurize the ISI and Pakistani government.
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Syed Saleem Shehzad (left) & Carol Anne Grayson (right) |
Saleem Shahzad’s links were well known to the world and he used to confide in his international friends whatever pressure he faced but it never included a direct threat to life, officials familiar with the issue said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Those who knew Saleem Shahzad say he began a hide and seek game with the security agencies more than a decade earlier when a scandal on Agosta submarine deal and death of French engineers in Karachi surfaced. Shahzad, then living in Karachi, was arrested on allegations that he was handing over a secret Agosta file to undercover French agent Mr. Philips. He moved to Islamabad after being set free. Saleem Shahazad often visited USZ embassy in Islamabad and maintained regular contacts with banned CIA war proxy of Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Friends say his profession required these two way links as he filed reports on Taliban.
However, security officials believe Shahzad would not hesitate to translate his wishes into news story - a fact evident in his articles declaring Ilyas Kashmiri as next Al-CIA-Da leader. And ironically enough, just a short while afterwards, Ilyas Kashmiri was "killed" in USZ drone strike showing to the world that butchering women and children with chemical bombs is indeed "fruitful". Shahzad maintained that his close contacts with Kashmiri had enabled him to file inside report. Some sources claim Kashmiri had influenced him into writing some pieces, which proved beyond the facts and annoyed TTP. TTP had conveyed their displeasure to Shahzad, they said. “The ISI is concerned on the assassination of Shahazad and would not leave any stone unturned to find the culprits”, a responsible source in the intelligence agency said.
The source strongly condemned the reports that Shahzad was threatened by the ISI. He was invited to the ISI headquarters for discussion and offered a correct version of information as some of his reporting on Pakistan was not consistent with the facts, the source said. Asked Whether Shahzad was threatened by the ISI’s media wing, the source said agency’s department on media was limited to providing information. “And you don’t invite somebody to your home only to threaten him”, it reacted. Other sources say although ISI never threatened Saleem Shahzad, it did try to persuade the journalist on some issues and he discussed it in a meeting with his local and international friends, hardening impression that Shahzad and ISI were at odds. The belief, they claim, appeared advantageous to anti-Pakistani groups, who planned and killed Shahzad to intensify pressure on the ISI.
Even before the murder Pakistani intelligence faced heavy criticism both from outside and inside the country and under prevailing circumstance it could not commit such a huge mistake of killing someone with international standing , a source in the national security apparatus told journalists. It said Saleem Shahzad’s murder and the way body was dumped showed that “third hand” was involved. It is not hard to guess who the third hand is, but thorough investigation is necessary before naming anyone, the source added. A very close friend of Saleem Shahzad said his murder was just a tragedy. He would not speak more. Shahzad’s wife was contacted through a friend of her husband. She said Shahzad left home on the evening of May 29 and never returned although an anonymous phone caller did say he would, by the next evening. The widow said she did not know who kidnapped Shahzad.
Some people close to the diplomatic circles in Islamabad say the reporter had close contacts with the Americans and would sometime cross their “redline”. “Saleem Shahzad was killed in a CIA battle”, they said. In Islamabad other people, who work for western media and have links with the USZ embassy in Islamabad, are also concerned. They are planning to leave the country. Shahzad too wanted to immigrate to Iran, a newspaper report has claimed.
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