The Beeb's Aamer Ahmed Khan analyzes the case of Hayatullah Khan, whose family suspects that Pakistani security services murdered him after he reported that an al Qaeda figure was killed by a U.S. missile and not while making a bomb.

Some excerpts:

Hayatullah Khan pictured on a reporting trip to Afghanistan

The murder of a Pakistani journalist who reported on the alleged killing of an al-Qaeda suspect highlights the dangers for the media in the tribal areas.

The body of Hayatullah Khan, himself a tribesman, was found last Friday in North Waziristan, more than six months after he was abducted by unknown persons.

His family blame the security forces in the tribal areas for his murder.

The authorities have consistently denied allegations that the security forces had anything to do with Mr Khan's kidnapping or killing, and the government has ordered a judicial inquiry.

The security forces changed their statement at least three times Ehsanullah Khan, brother

Meanwhile, journalists in major Pakistani cities have held protest demonstrations against the murder.

The case underlines the immense pressure journalists in the tribal areas are under and the effect this is having on the media's relations with the government. ...

Mr Khan's younger brother, Ehsanullah, recently spoke to the BBC News website in detail about his brother's disappearance.

Ehsanullah says that Hayatullah clearly recognised his kidnappers when his car was stopped as he was nearing home in December last year.

"He told his guards and tribesmen who were in the car with him not to resist those people," says Ehsanullah.

"He said he would soon be back."

Hayatullah belonged to the influential Daur tribe of North Waziristan.

A massive manhunt was launched by his tribesmen but, according to Ehsanullah, they did not find anything that could convince them that Hayatullah had been taken by the Taleban or any other militant group based in the area.

"The security forces changed their statement at least three times," he says. ...

Speaking to the BBC after Hayatullah's body had been recovered, his widow, Mehrunnisa, said her husband had fallen victim to a conspiracy hatched by the Pakistani security forces.

"He got 20 phone calls from intelligence officers on 2 December 2005," Ms Mehrunnisa said.

"I know those officers. They wanted Hayatullah to report that Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed by an American missile.

"I warned him that they were trying to trap him but he did not listen to me."

So that leaves us with a disquieting question: Is the security service of a Western ally in the "war on terror" guilty of killing a journalist?