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Daniel Pearl, Hayatullah Khan, Hamid Mir

The dirty business of killing journalists

By David Dastych & Judi McLeod

Friday, June 22, 2007

>"Danny Pearl's execution is a recruitment video for savages. According to CBS News, the film is being distributed out of Saudi Arabia, our strategic partner for peace and the war on terrorism. The footage is titled "The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl." It must trip off the tongue better in Arabic" – Jonah Golberg wrote in 2002.

Daniel Pearl was killed (on February 1, 2002 in Karachi), because he got to know too much of secret links between "rogue elements" of the Pakistani ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and Bin Laden's al-Qaeda. In March 2007, at a closed military hearing in Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed reportedly boasted that he had personally beheaded Pearl. A transcript of the hearing quotes Mohammed as saying: "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan." Then he added, "for those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."

Daniel Pearl

"The only positive development this current cabal of thugs in Islamabad could really boast about in the past was the comparative freedom of the media" – wrote Ahmed Muzzammil in Pak Tribune, on June 18 – "Although a quite strong case can be made on the contrary even in the previous years, but now the gloves are off. The way journalists are openly threatened by all concerned is a travesty in its own. Dr. Shahid Masood was asked how much Latha (burial-garment) he would need. Hamid Mir was man-handled by the police and agencies. Talat Hussein and Aaj TV was shot at for hours in broad daylight while the administration and the authorities were standing aloof like a retard. Not only these gentlemen were harassed and threatened, their respective programs were taken off air as well. What was their crime you ask? They were reporting the facts as partially and politely as you can report a rape and exploitation of a nation. Mind you these journalists are still the lucky ones; at least they are still alive. We can't say the same about a number of them who have paid the price of their journalistic integrity with their own blood."

Here is a relatively fresh example. One year ago, on June 19, 2006, we reported on the CFP :

"Pakistani journalist Hayatullah Khan was found dead Friday evening near the town of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan, a tribal territory near the Afghan border.

His body was dumped in a mountain area. He was handcuffed and there was a fresh bullet injury on the back side of his head. A long beard and a frail posture suggested he had been held in captivity for some time.

Khan was a local reporter and cameraman in Mir Ali. He covered security issues for the Nation and other Pakistani papers and worked for a European news agency and, occasionally, for Islamabad-based GEO TV.

Khan was kidnapped Dec. 5, 2005, near his town by unknown gunmen. The political administration of North Waziristan claimed he had been abducted by some criminals, possibly for ransom. But his family blamed the regional administration and the Pakistani government. Not without a reason. A few days before, Khan complained that some operatives of the powerful Pakistani intelligence (ISI) demanded that he better drop journalism or leave North Waziristan. They were angry at him for his bold coverage of the critical situation in the region.

A prominent Pakistani journalist and writer, Hamid Mir, said that in September 2005 he worked with Khan in North Waziristan filming for the GEO TV some dead bodies of innocent civilians, killed by the Pakistani Army and declared by soldiers as "terrorists." They also filmed some local tribals, who were moving openly with heavy weapons in that area, undisturbed by the Pakistani troops. When Hamid Mir's TV documentary was aired, Khan was accused by the regional authorities of allegedly exposing some "secrets." He was threatened and told to stop working as journalist. But he refused to do so."

It's not a mere chance that the name of Hamid Mir is found in almost all reports about the abuse of journalists in Pakistan. This young, already world-famous and brave Pakistani reporter was always there, involved in the defense of his colleagues, brutalized, slandered or even killed.

Hamid Mir, 41, was born to a journalist family. In an in-depth interview, he granted the CFP ( "Risk is the Beauty of Journalism", May 9, 2006; he told us:

"My wife was my class fellow at the university. I have one son and one daughter. They are school-age. It is difficult to balance a busy and risky professional life with a happy family life. I think that credit goes to my family. They understand my professional obligations. I belong to a truly journalist family. My father, the late Waris Mir, was a columnist and a Professor of Journalism in the University of the Punjab, Lahore, my two brothers and my wife are also journalists."

The situation in Pakistan is full of tensions now and more riots are expected in July. Recently, when Hamid Mir openly challenged the government on several political issues, his place of work, the GEO TV, was assaulted by police, and although President Musharraf later called him up and apologized, threats against him and his family continued. He was barred from entering the Parliament House, his TV program was restricted and he decided to move his family out of Islamabad in fear for their life.

Hamid is our friend and we want to assure him of our support. Pakistan is not the only "journalist-killing country". There are more: Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, the Philippines, Serbia, Mexico and others. It's true that not only journalists are being killed and mutilated but newsmen are specially exposed to danger, because they are the messengers to the public opinion. Journalists cover all kinds of events, including wars and revolutions, dirty deals and mafia crimes, government abuse and social injustice. It's difficult to protect them, because they just head off to places where nobody dares to show up. We, journalists, don't expect pity. We demand that the dirty business ofslaughtering us be stopped. But we can only rely on God's protection.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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