Mullen blames Pakistani authorities for Shahzads killing

Pakistan

Mullen blames Pakistani authorities for Shahzads killing

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The US military's top officer said Pakistan's government may have sanctioned the killing of Shahzad.

08 July,2011 03:08 am

US Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington the kidnapping, torture and slaying of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad was sanctioned by the government.I have not seen anything to disabuse that the government knew about it, Mullen said.He said that the Pakistani government’s aggression towards journalists suggested that it was going in wrong direction.However, he restraint himself from implicating the ISI in the killing.The Foreign Office called Mullen’s statement irresponsible. The Foreign Office also said that the statement would give no aid to the investigation of the killing.Shahzad, who worked for the Asia Times Online and Italian news agency Adnkronos International, disappeared shortly after he wrote an article claiming a militant attack in May on the Pakistani navys base in Karachi was in retaliation for the navys attempt to crack down on Al-Qaida infiltrators.