Reporter shot after peace rally in NW Pakistan

PAKISTAN: Gunmen killed a Pakistani television reporter hours after he covered a peace march led by a hard-line cleric aimed at convincing militants in the Swat Valley to lay down their weapons under a pact with the government, the victim's employer said.

It was unclear who shot Geo television's Musa Khan Khel on Wednesday, but the incident shows that Swat remains a dangerous region despite Monday's truce agreement, which NATO has warned risks giving the Taliban a "safe haven" in the former tourist region.

Reporters have often been killed or kidnapped in northwest Pakistan in circumstances that are rarely investigated. Journalists there say they face threats from both militants and members of the security forces and have to be very careful on what and how they report.

Khel's body was found close to the town of Matta several hours after he had left the rest of his crew without telling them where he was going, said Azhar Abbas, the managing director of Geo, Pakistan's most popular news channel.

He had been shot several times in his upper body, and his throat was partly slit, Abbas said, refusing to speculate on a motive for the crime.

Khel had arrived in the town after filing reports on Geo about a peace march to the town by Sufi Muhammad - an aging pro-Taliban cleric who is father-in-law to Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah - and hundreds of his supporters. On Monday, the regional government in Pakistan's northwest struck a deal with Muhammad in which he agreed to persuade Fazlullah to give up arms in return for the pledge to introduce a system of Islamic law in the valley, where militants have routed the police, beheaded political opponents and burned scores of schools for girls. Muhammad has said he hopes to meet with Fazlullah soon.

The march was aimed at rallying support for his efforts.

Mingora, Thursday, AP