Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has issued a rare media statement to deny it was behind the abduction and killing Syed Saleem Shahzad. The following is the full text of the statement that was issued in the form of a news report by Pakistan's carried by the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan
The unfortunate and tragic death of Syed Saleem Shahzad is a source of concern for the entire nation but the incident should not be used to target and malign the country’s security agencies, said an ISI official Wednesday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the job. “The reported meeting between the journalist and ISI officials of the Information Management Wing was held on 17th October 2010 to discuss a story he had done for Asia Online on 15th October, and the meeting had nothing sinister about it,” said the official.
“It is part of the Wing’s mandate to remain in touch with the journalist community. Main objective behind all such interactions is provision of accurate information on matters of national security. ISI also makes it a point to notify institutions and individuals alike of any threat warning received about them”, he said.
The ISI official further said that “the reported e-mail of Mr. Saleem Shahzad to Mr Ali Hasan Dayan of HRW which is being made the basis of baseless allegations leveled against ISI has no veiled or unveiled threats in it.”