ISLAMABAD: Speculation that Pakistan's military spy agency had a hand in the death of a prominent journalist has further discredited the organization already facing one of its worst crises after the killing of Osama Bin Laden on Pakistani soil. Saleem Shahzad, who worked for Hong-Kong based Asia Times Online and Italian news agency Adnkronos International, disappeared from Islamabad on Sunday and his body was found in a canal with what police said were torture marks. Suspicions immediately fell on the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, bringing more bad publicity after the killing of Bin Laden by US special forces near the capital. The raid, which Pakistan failed to detect or stop, shattered the myth that the agency is omnipotent. “The ISI's image had already been tarnished and it is under so much pressure,” said a former ISI officer. “It's never been as bad as this before.” Hundreds of mourners turned out Wednesday for the burial of a Pakistan journalist who had said he was being threatened by the country's intelligence services before he was tortured to death.
