ISLAMABAD/KHAR, 19 June 2006 — Hundreds of Pakistani tribesmen staged a protest yesterday against the killing of a journalist, abducted last year after reporting that an Al-Qaeda leader had been killed by a US missile.
The handcuffed body of the journalist, Hayatullah Khan, was found dumped in mountains outside the town of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border on Friday. He was shot in the back of the head, probably on Thursday.
Governor of the North West Frontier Province retired Lt. Gen. Ali Jan Auarkzai has ordered a complete probe into Khan’s kidnapping and murder.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azeem Chaudhry told journalists in Islamabad yesterday that the agencies had been directed by the NWFP governor to conduct a through investigation into the abduction and killing of the journalist.
The NWFP provincial assembly also adopted a resolution calling for the arrest of Khan’s killers.
More than 800 tribesmen marched in the main market of Khar, the main town of the Bajaur tribal region, chanting slogans of “We want press freedom”, “We want protection” and “Arrest killers of Hayatullah Khan”.
Speakers at the rally criticized the government for its failure to protect journalists working in the lawless tribal region where security forces are battling Al-Qaeda militants and their allies.
“The government is responsible for the killing of Hayatullah Khan,” said Maulana Muhammad Sadiq, a local Muslim leader and lawmaker from the region. At least four journalists have been killed and many have fled to other parts of Pakistan since government forces intensified its war against terrorism in tribal regions, particularly in Waziristan, in early 2004.
Khan covered security issues for various publications including The Nation, an English-language newspaper and several foreign news organizations. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international group for press freedom, said Khan had been threatened in the past by security forces, suspected Taleban members and tribesmen for his reporting. US forces in Afghanistan detained him for five days in 2002, his colleagues said.
In Karachi, journalists from South Asian countries attending a regional conference also held a protest and demanded an investigation into Khan’s killing.
Later, speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said he had already ordered a probe and promised its findings would be made public.
On Saturday, journalists and opposition members of Parliament walked out of a National Assembly session in Islamabad to protest Khan’s killing.
Shortly before his abduction, Khan had reported on an explosion in a militant hide-out near the Afghan border that killed Abu Hamza Rabia.
Authorities said Rabia, who was a senior Al-Qaeda leader, was killed on Dec. 1 when explosives at the hide-out went off accidentally. But residents said the hide-out was hit by a missile and Khan was the first reporter to photograph fragments found at the scene that appeared to be from a US missile.
