WASHINGTON, July 7: The US military chief said on Thursday that the Pakistani government “sanctioned” the killing of a journalist in May, but said he could not tie the death to the ISI.

“It was sanctioned by the government,” Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington. “I have not seen anything to disabuse that the government knew about it.”

It is the first time a high-level US official has publicly blamed the Pakistani government for Saleem Shahzad’s kidnapping and death.

A government spokesman in Islamabad denied the allegation and said the remarks made by Admiral Mullen were ‘irresponsible’.—Anwar Iqbal