Abducted Pakistani journalist found dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 16 (Reuters) A Pakistani journalist abducted by gunmen in December after reporting that an al Qaeda leader was killed by a U.S. missile was found dead today, a Pakistani government official said.

Hayatullah Khan had been shot in the back of the head, probably yesterday, and dumped in mountains outside the town of Mir Ali, in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border.

''We can confirm it is Hayatullah. He was shot once in the back of the head and was in handcuffs,'' the deputy administrator of North Waziristan, Mohammad Fida Khan, told reporters in Mir Ali.

REUTERS SB PC2015