Human Rights Watch fears he has been kidnapped by Pakistan's ISI. He left a letter with them in case of his disappearance. HRW has maintained for a long time that the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies are the principal human rights abusers in Pakistan.

In his last article a few days ago, Shahzad wrote that the attack on Pakistan navy's Mehran air base in Karachi was not the work of the Taliban, which claimed credit, but al Qaida, and specifically the 313 Brigade, led by Ilyas Kashmiri. Kashmiri is a non-appearing defendant in the ongoing Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Rana. David Headley has said that Kashmiri was involved in the Mumbai attacks and took over the project to attack the Danish news agency after the ISI and Major Iqbal backed out. [More...]

Shahzad wrote that al Qaida's motive for the attack was partly the killing of Osama bin Laden, but more importantly, a response to internal crackdowns on al-Qaeda affiliates in the Pakistani navy. Part 2 of the article, which has not yet been published, was going to address recruitment and training of militants.

Headley testified this week that during preparation for the Mumbai attacks, a Pakistani Navy man was present during discussions with his ISI handler, Major Iqbal about landing sites and the arrival of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists by sea. More on that here. Headley told Indian investigators the same thing in 2010, as did convicted Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab. Headley said the Navy Man was Abdur Rahman, who is also indicted in the Chicago terror case.

Most updates are on Twitter, HRW's Ali Dayan Hasan, and #FreeSaleemShahad.