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Keith Ryan, Homeland Security attache to the United States Embassy in Islamabad, is dead. Local boy, son of a top Boston Globe sports columnist. Shot in the head. The initial official word is suicide, but that is now in question. Reuters first: 

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities found the body of a U.S. diplomat with a bullet wound in his head at his home in Islamabad on Monday and were investigating a suspected case of suicide, police and the Interior Minister said.

The U.S. embassy named the dead man as 37-year-old Keith Ryan, an immigration and customs enforcement attache from the Department of Homeland Security.

“There will be a full investigation; however, there does not appear to have been any foul play,” the embassy said in a brief statement.

…

Kaleem Imam, a Senior Superintendent of police in Islamabad, said the diplomat had been in Pakistan for a year and had been due to return to the United States on Monday, having finished his assignment.

It is horrible and tragic. And very strange. Keith Ryan, who studied law of the sea at Boston College Law and was a U.S. Coast Guard officer, appears to be the same one who penned this brief examining the practical rights of detainees before tribunals. Officially he’s part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under Homeland Security. U.S. officials have declined to discuss what he did in Islamabad, but I’ll take a wild guess that it may have had something to do with U.S. involvement in the interrogation of al Qaeda suspects by Pakistani authorities.  I’m not the only one who thinks so.

The Boston Globe reports that Bob Ryan, Keith’s father, is struggling to come to terms with his son’s suicide. However, the Pakistani newspapers, citing police sources with access to post-mortem results, say the evidence suggests murder. The News of Islamabad, which parenthetically notes Homeland Security’s anti-terrorism role in Pakistan:

The victim had bullet wound in the upper back portion of his neck, the sources at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said, adding his death was caused by excessive bleeding. The police, on the information of the staff members of the US Embassy, recovered the body of the diplomat and a 9 mm gun from the bathroom.

The police had earlier declared it suicide. The pathologists at the PIMS hospital confirmed that Ryan sustained bullet injury on the rear upper neck. The medico-legal experts, however, said he was murdered.

“There is only an entry wound on the rear upper portion of his neck but no exit wound, “ the sources revealed, adding that the bullet could not be found even in X-Ray report. “There is no visible blackening of the entry wound, indicating that the shot was fired from the distance of more than four feet”, the sources claimed.

Keith was scheduled to leave for the USA by Qatar Airways flight QA-398 at 8.45 AM on Monday after completion of his tenure and his colleague, Mr. David Dean, an employee of the USA Embassy, came to his house at about 6.00am to give him a ride to Islamabad Airport but he found no body at his house. The sources quoting the witness said, “As he opened the door of the bathroom, Keith was lying dead in the bathtub while a gun was lying three feet away from the tub. He was wearing knickers.”

Inspector General of Police Islamabad Shahid Nadeem Baluch when contacted by this correspondent said, “We cannot say anything before getting the postmortem report. No doubt, there are many questions to answer but it would be immature to make any opinion at this early stage”.

The SSP Islamabad, Syed Kaleem Imam said, “It is very early to reach any conclusion”, adding that an inquiry team headed by SP (East) Nasir Aftab has started investigation to ascertain the cause of death. He said that the team was interrogating the security guards on duty and other people serving in the house.

Here’s Dawn:

ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: A security officer of the US embassy was found dead in his residence on Monday.

The embassy said no “foul play” was involved, but senior police officers thought otherwise.

They said it was too early to determine from the bullet wound in the skull of Mr Keith Ryan whether it was a case of suicide or homicide.

Keith Ryan, 37, was due to return to the US on Monday.

According to hospital and police sources, the embassy stopped the authorities from conducting post-mortem after the body was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Doctors there were allowed to carry out an external examination only. The embassy officials said an autopsy would be carried out in Germany.

The incident came to light when the embassy staff arrived at the house of Keith Ryan, on Street 63, Sector F-7/3, to take him to Islamabad airport for a US-bound flight.

As no response came from inside the house, the staff called police at around 9am. When they entered the house with the policemen, they found Mr Ryan lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom, a loaded pistol lying nearby.

The police and the embassy officials collected fingerprints and other evidence before shifting the body to Pims.

Sources at the hospital said Mr Ryan had a bullet wound in the back of his head. The bullet was still lodged in his skull, according to doctors.

Had he committed suicide by shooting himself through the mouth, the bullet would have exited, according to the doctors.

OK. So if someone wanted to kill Keith Ryan, who and why?

My condolences to the Ryan family, should the Ryans or anyone close to them see this. I met Bob Ryan, Keith’s father who is a prominent Boston Globe sports writer, briefly years ago at the old Boston Garden.  He was friendly and helpful, and as a bigshot dealing with a sports moron from the competition, he didn’t have to be.  I’m sorry about your son and the shattering of dreams this represents, Bob. I hope any questions you have are answered to your satisfaction.

The Globe has a little more about Keith Ryan. For some reason they led off with the personal politics, as if there’s something strange about choosing to devote your life to the defense of your nation, but that’s the Globe for you.

Topics: Pakistan, al qaeda

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:04 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2008

7 Responses to “Questions”

1. The_Real_JeffS Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 9:52 am

   My condolences to the Ryan family as well.

   And I wouldn’t trust the assessment from the Pakistani police either; after their buffoonery following Bhutto’s assassination, no one should.

2. tanstaafl Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 11:25 am

   Any even remotely connected American diplomat could be a target in Islamabad.

   Or Karachi or Lahore or anywhere in Pakistan.

   It does seem like a rush to judgment to call it suicide.

   Very sad to lose a good man and a son.

3. The Thunder Run Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

   Web Reconnaissance for 01/29/2008

   A short recon of what�s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.

4. RebeccaH Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

   How is it possible to shoot yourself from behind and leave no residue?

   Most suicides who shoot themselves do it from the front. It’s very awkward to do it from the back, and someone who was intent on doing himself in would be afraid of not getting it right.

   I don’t believe this was suicide. I hope they find out who did it, and why, and bring them to justice (hey, even in Pakistan, it’s possible).

   Condolences to the family.

5. psizemore Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 9:34 pm

   I knew Keith for more than 20 years. I saw him just a few weeks ago when he was back in the states on a brief leave. I am only commenting to end the speculation and conspiracy theories out there. I have no doubt that it was suicide. I hope people can just let his family grieve in private and not have people speculate on what is a highly personal and private tragedy.

6. OmegaPaladin Says:
   January 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

   Suicidal people can be murdered, you know. Would it not be truly horrific for thugs to take advantage of a man believed to be suicidal by killing him and arranging it as a suicide? We also know nothing about you. Unless you are willing to present evidence, don’t ask us shut up about the potential for foul play.

7. MDB1811 Says:
   January 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

   psizemore, you are a liar.

   Anyone who knew Keith would know that he loved a good fight. He would never acknowledge defeat, and he knew how the “game” was played. He loved challenge and adversity, and took every obstacle as a new challenge.

   You may know who he is, and you may have even be an associate of his. But you are not his friend, which is painfully evident by your post. No friend of Keith’s, no one that knew him, would believe that he was capable of taking his own life… or accept that as fact, given the contradictory evidence.

   I am disgusted that you would come on here and even suggest that Keith would be friends with someone so willing to throw him under the bus. Go back to the hole you crawled out of.

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