Cheema Communications

Syed Saleem Shahzad gained prominence for hard-hitting investigative journalism, which exposed extremist militant networks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His abduction from the nation's capital on May 29th, followed by recovery of his brutally tortured body from the Punjab city of Mandi Bahauddin two days later, has shocked Pakistanis and people around the world. He had feared threat to his life from the Pakistani intelligence agencies, as revealed by Ali Hasan Dayan of the Human Rights Watch. Calls for impartial investigation into his death have been made by the civil society and journalists.

Mr. Shahzad was author of a recent book "Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11" published by the progressive publisher Pluto Press. Pluto Press provided the following statement in the wake of Saleem Shahzad's tragic death.

“Pluto Press is immensely privileged to have been Saleem Shahzad’s publisher. We are proud of his work and of 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 worked, his writing for Pluto and for many prestigious international news outlets displayed a brave and uncompromising stance.

We utterly condemn the brutal murder of Saleem Shahzad and we would appeal to the authorities in Pakistan to do all they can to find his killers and bring them to justice swiftly and transparently.”

Jon Wheatley, publicist of the Pluto Press, mentioned that royalty from the book will be provided to immediate family members of the murdered author. For many, this maybe one measure to support the 40-year-old murdered journalist's wife and three children - two boys aged 14 and 7, and a daughter aged 12.

Mr. Shahzad's book will be distributed by Palgrave Macmillan in USA , Pluto in the U.K. and Europe, and Readings in Pakistan. His book can also be purchased directly from the following Pluto Press website link:

http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745331010&