Pluto author Shahzad "found dead"

ournalist and Pluto Books author Syed Saleem Shahzad has been found dead near Islamabad, after going missing on Sunday (29th May), according to reports just in from the Pakistan media.

Shahzad, who was Pakistan bureau chief of Asia Times Online and 

whose book Inside Al-Qaeda: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 has just been released in the UK, disappeared on his way to a TV interview. A spokesperson from Human Rights Watch told Pakistan's Daily Times on Monday that "credible sources" claimed Shahzad was being held by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Shahzad wrote a recent Asia Times article suggesting complicity between Al Qaeda and the Pakistani navy. The latest press reports say Shahzad's body has been found in Sarai Alamair, 200 km from Islamabad, alongside his car.

Speaking to The Bookseller yesterday, Pluto Press director Simon Liebesny said everyone at the publishing house was "deeply worried" for the author's safety. He said: "Pluto Press is immensely proud of Saleem Shahzad for his persistence and diligence in investigating stories which threaten to uncover uncomfortable truths for politicians and officials alike. In the complex political milieu in which he works, his writing for Pluto and for many prestigious international news outlets displays a brave and uncompromising stance."