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| Pakistan slams U.S. allegation over slain journalist |
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 ISLAMABAD (AP) — The allegation by the top U.S. military officer that Pakistan's government sanctioned the killing of a journalist who wrote about the country's powerful security establishment was "extremely irresponsible," the Pakistani state-run news agency said.The verbal sparring over the death of Saleem Shahzad has added even more strain to U.S.-Pakistani relations, which have teetered badly since the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 in a northwest Pakistani army town. Shahzad's tortured body was found in late May after he'd told friends he'd been threatened by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, a spy unit that is notorious for harassing reporters in a country considered one of the deadliest in the world for journalists. The ISI has denied it had anything to do with killing Shahzad, but the suspicions have persisted and prompted unusual levels of public criticism of the spy agency. Shahzad's death also added to the pressure on the Pakistani military since the unilateral U.S. raid against the al-Qaeda chief, which left it humiliated. On Thursday, U.S. joint chiefs of staff chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said he believed the Pakistani government "sanctioned" Shahzad's killing. Although Mullen acknowledged he could not directly tie the killing to the ISI, he was the first U.S. official to make such a public allegation. Mullen further said that the reported abuse of other journalists in Pakistan is not a good road for the government in Islamabad.   Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
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| Last Updated on 08 July 2011 16:16 |