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Adm Mullen: Pakistan 'Sanctioned Saleem Shahzad Murder'
BBC NEWS, SOUTH ASIA
July 8, 2011: Pakistan "sanctioned" the killing of journalist Saleem Shahzad, the highest-ranking officer in the US military, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said. But he said he could not confirm if the country's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI was involved.
A government spokesman called the statement "extremely irresponsible". The ISI has denied any involvement.
Mr Shahzad was kidnapped near his home in Islamabad in May. His body was found two days later in Punjab province. At the time, many in the Pakistani media blamed the Pakistani intelligence agency for the murder, despite its denial.
An inquiry set up by the government to investigate the killing began work last month. "I have not seen anything that would disabuse that report that the government knew about this," Adm Mullen told journalists in Washington on Thursday. "It was sanctioned by the government, yeah," he said. Adm Mullen added that he did not have a "string of evidence" linking the death to the ISI.
A Pakistani government spokesman said Pakistan had set up an independent commission to probe the killing and that Adm Mullen's statement would not help the investigation. Correspondents say the remarks will further worsen ties between Washington and its ally, Islamabad.
The relationship has been on a downward spiral for many months only exacerbated by the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden by US commandos in a midnight raid in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
Mr Shahzad had made career writing about various Islamist militant networks operating in Pakistan and had recently written an article about al-Qaeda infiltration in Pakistan's navy.
