<p>"In fact, according to the American official, reliable intelligence indicates that the order to kill Shahzad came from a senior officer on General Kayani's staff.<br /><br />"The officer made it clear that he was speaking on behalf of Kayani himself," the extensive report on the journalist's killing, that shocked the media fraternity across the world, said.<br /><br />However, General Athar Abbas, the spokesman for the Pakistani Army, called this allegation "preposterous".<br /><br />The report said the presence of Islamists in the Navy, and at Mehran Naval base, that was attacked by militants, was not a secret among Pakistanis.<br /><br />But Shahzad's article was particularly "incendiary". Not only did he report that sailors at the base had helped the attackers; he wrote that the Navy's leadership was bargaining directly with al-Qaeda, the report said.<br /><br />"Consider the time when Saleem's piece came out. The military felt humiliated. It felt backed into a corner," the report quoted an unnamed American official as saying who added, "When you're backed into a corner like that, you strike back."<br /><br />Shahzad was a Pakistani journalist working for a portal 'Asia Times Online' when he went missing on May 29, soon after writing a report on the May 22 Mehran naval station terror attack that had destroyed two US made P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and killed 10.</p>
<p>"In fact, according to the American official, reliable intelligence indicates that the order to kill Shahzad came from a senior officer on General Kayani's staff.<br /><br />"The officer made it clear that he was speaking on behalf of Kayani himself," the extensive report on the journalist's killing, that shocked the media fraternity across the world, said.<br /><br />However, General Athar Abbas, the spokesman for the Pakistani Army, called this allegation "preposterous".<br /><br />The report said the presence of Islamists in the Navy, and at Mehran Naval base, that was attacked by militants, was not a secret among Pakistanis.<br /><br />But Shahzad's article was particularly "incendiary". Not only did he report that sailors at the base had helped the attackers; he wrote that the Navy's leadership was bargaining directly with al-Qaeda, the report said.<br /><br />"Consider the time when Saleem's piece came out. The military felt humiliated. It felt backed into a corner," the report quoted an unnamed American official as saying who added, "When you're backed into a corner like that, you strike back."<br /><br />Shahzad was a Pakistani journalist working for a portal 'Asia Times Online' when he went missing on May 29, soon after writing a report on the May 22 Mehran naval station terror attack that had destroyed two US made P3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and killed 10.</p>