The Pakistan government on Wednesday allowed journalists to carry small arms on their person due to the threat to their lives in a country declared the most dangerous for mediapersons. “Orders have been passed to allow journalists to carry small arms with them for self-protection. We understand the journalists are under great threat,”
Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik said, adding, “Journalists are targets, like the Army, for the militants. We want to make sure they stay safe.”
Talking to reporters here, Mr Malik said journalists, like the Pakistan Army, are fighting negative forces in the country. The interior minister said the body of slain journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, 40, bore signs of torture.
“The dead body has been handed over to his family after a post-mortem at PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Islamabad). The dead body carried torture signs,” Mr Malik said.
The journalist, who worked for the Italian news agency Adnkronos Interna-tional (AKI) and the Hong Kong-registered online news site Asia Times, went missing on Sunday. He was found dead near Mandi Bahauddin, 150 km southeast of Islamabad.
He disappeared two days after writing an investigative report in Asia Times Online about last week’s attack on Mehran naval air base. Mr Malik announced a bounty of `2.5 million on the killers of Saleem Shahzad. The minister paid a condolence visit to the house of the slain journalist here.
He said Saleem Shahzad’s killing was regrettable and the government was reviewing the matter from every aspect.