Hayatullah Khan found handcuffed and shot in the head

Hayatullah Khan worked as a free lance journalist. he covered Pakistan / Waziristan / Afghanistan. He was North Waziristan correspondent for two dailies, Ausaf and Nation, and a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA). He was reported abducted on December 2nd 2005. International press and rights groups had condemned Khan’s abduction by unknown gunmen and called on the government to act swiftly to find him.

They found him this week outside Mir Ali in N. Waziristan. The deputy administrator of North Waziristan, Mohammad Fida Khan (no relation) said , "We can confirm it is Hayatullah. He was shot once in the back of the head and was in handcuffs,”

Shortly before his abduction he had reported on an explosion in a militant hideout near the Afghan border that killed Abu Hamza Rabia, he reported finding remnants of an American missile which contradicted the official story of Hamzas death.

US forces in Afghanistan detained him for five days in 2002, his colleagues said.

He leaves 3 children, 8 year old Naila Hayat, and her brothers, Hamran, 5, and Fareshta, 6.

A convenient death as attacks increase in Helmland / Waziristan - deeply unpopular in Pakistan, so Mr Mushariff will sleep a little easier.