Pakistan on Friday warned its co-operation in the US-led war on al Qaeda was at risk after heavily criticising the top US military officer for suggesting it could have approved a journalist's murder. Journalist Saleem Shahzad's body was found just outside the capital Islamabad on May 31, bearing marks of torture.
He had complained of being threatened by the intelligence services and his colleagues believe that Inter-Services intelligence (ISI) was responsible for his disappearance, two days earlier, en route to a television studio. Admiral Mike Mullen waded into the fray on Thursday by saying: "I haven't seen anything that would disabuse that report" when asked about media reports that the Pakistani government approved Shahzad's killing.
Nevertheless, when asked if Pakistan's intelligence service had been involved, Mullen said he could not confirm the allegation. Regardless, the remarks aggravated relations already strained by a covert US raid north of Islamabad in May that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and the killing of two men by a CIA contractor in Lahore in January.
"If someone has given such a statement then it is extremely irresponsible," Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference. "The statement by Admiral Mike Mullen regarding Pakistan will create problems and difficulties in the bilateral ties," she said. "It will also impact our joint efforts in war against terrorism," added Firdous, refusing to elaborate but saying the foreign ministry would issue another statement. The foreign ministry spokeswoman was not reachable. Mullen said he was "concerned" about the killing and suggested that other reporters had suffered a similar fate in the past.