Hayatullah Khan: a Media Hero

UPDATE:
Nov 17, 2007: Wife of Hyatullah died in bomb explosion at their house. (full report)

June 16, 2006: Hayatullah Khan's, freelance journalist, body was found by villagers in the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali, from where he was abducted on December 5, 2005.

Khan disappeared after reporting that an al-Qaeda commander had been killed by a U.S. missile, contradicting official Pakistani accounts of the death. Local government officials and family members told journalists that Khan had been shot in the back of the head, probably on June 15, and was in handcuffs.

Front line movie - In Search of Al-Qaeda click here - producer, Martin Smith, hired Hyatullah in 2002 and writes "Hayat was a dedicated journalist who gave outsiders some of the first glimpses of Waziristan," recalls Smith. "From the moment we met him, we recognized his intelligence and talent."

On Dec. 5, 2005, Hayat Ullah was riding in a car with his brother when he was abducted by unknown assailants. Four days earlier, in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, he had taken photos of the aftermath of what Pakistani officials had said was an accidental bomb-making explosion that killed Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian believed to be a senior Al Qaeda operative. Hayat Ullah's photos, which showed clearly identifiable fragments of U.S. Hellfire missiles in the rubble, directly contradicted the government's story.

Though no one knows who kidnapped Hayat Ullah, his family suspects the government: "We believe that the government is involved in the kidnapping of Hayat Ullah because Hayat said to my mother, 'When I published the pictures of the guided missile, that I know that the government will harm me,'" his brother, Haseen Ullah, explained to FRONTLINE. full story

Photo that allegedly killed Hayatullah

CPJ Report click here , 2nd report
Reporters without borders Report click here
Amnesty Report click here , 2nd report - 2007