Questions raised in death of US official in Pakistan

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff

United States officials tonight are attempting to transport the body of diplomat Keith Ryan from Islamabad to the U.S. for an autopsy, amid unconfirmed -- and contradictory -- news media reports in Pakistan that he died in a murder rather than a suicide.

"I'm a little bit confused and upset," said Bob Ryan, Keith's father, and a sports columnist for the Globe. "I want to make sure the plane takes off with the body."

At least one news organization has reported that doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences planned to perform their own autopsy. But Ryan has been assured by US officials, including Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts and a ranking official with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, that his son's body would be flown out of Pakistan before an autopsy was performed.

Keith Ryan, a Hingham native who was an attache for the US ICE based in Islamabad, had been living in Pakistan since December 2006. The US State Department has said previously that Ryan apparently took his own life and was found Monday in his Islamabad residence. The US Embassy in Pakistan said there was no appearance of "foul play."

State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said today that the death remained under investigation.

Dawn, the most widely circulated English-language Pakistani newspaper, reported anonymous hospital and police sources saying today that the embassy stopped Pakistani authorities from conducting a postmortem after the body was shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Doctors there were allowed to carry out an external examination of the body only, the report said.

The News, a major daily published by the Jang Group of newspapers based in Karachi, quoted anonymous officials at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences today who characterized the death as a murder. A story posted on the newspaper's website said Ryan had an entry wound from a bullet in the back of his neck but no exit wound. The anonymous source also said there was "no visible blackening of the entry wound," indicating that the fatal shot was fired from a distance of more than four feet.

While one news organization reported that no bullet was found, another reported that a bullet was lodged in Ryan's skull. Both reports contradict information that was given by US officials to the Ryan family.

Ryan said Markey had interceded on his behalf and had received assurances from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that his son's body would be flown out of Pakistan to be autopsied by U.S. doctors.

Keith Ryan left a wife of 12 years and eight-year-old triplets.

"You never think in your life you'll be caught up in anything like this," his father, Bob Ryan said. "It's just so frustrating."

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