ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A Pakistani journalist has been found dead near Islamabad, officials said Tuesday. Syed Saleem Shahzad, 40, worked for an Italian news agency and an online news site registered in Hong Kong. He went missing on Sunday after he left his home in the capital to take part in a television talk show, but never arrived. Officials said his body was identified by relatives after being found near his car in Sarai Alamgir, 150 km southeast of Islamabad. Relatives visited the police station and now they have identified the dead body. They said it is the body of journalist Saleem Shahzad, police official Zulfiqar Ali told AFP by telephone. He disappeared two days after writing an investigative report in Asia Times Online that Al-Qaeda carried out last weeks attack on a naval air base to avenge the arrest of naval officials arrested on suspicion of Al-Qaeda links. Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Shahzad had complained about being threatened by agencies. The other day he visited our office and informed us that ISI had threatened him. He told us that if anything happened to him, we should inform the media about the situation and threats, Hasan told AFP. We can form an opinion after the investigation and a court verdict. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered an inquiry into the kidnapping and murder, pledging that the culprits would be brought to book. Shahzads Italian employer Adnkronos (AKI) confirmed the death and earlier said it feared he had been kidnapped. He was also Pakistan bureau chief for Asia Times Online. In 2006, he was kidnapped by the Taliban in Helmand in southern Afghanistan. Then, his kidnappers accused him of being a spy but set him free after seven days. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had earlier Monday expressed alarm about Shahzads disappearance and described as exceedingly disturbing reports that he might have been abducted by a state agency. Hamza Ameer, a brother-in-law of Shahzad, told AFP that his car and identification papers had also been found. Shahzad is survived by his wife and three children.