Ayesha Siddiqa with her book in Islamabad. (AP)

Islamabad, May 31 (Reuters): A Pakistani analyst launched her book on the military’s penetration of the economy today after she and her publisher said they were forced to change venue at the last minute because of government pressure.

The book by Ayesha Siddiqa, a political analyst and former director of research at the Pakistan navy, tackles the virtually taboo subject of the military’s huge business empire, which she estimates is worth $10 billion.

Siddiqa said she had to cancel the planned launch at the capital’s top private club, the Islamabad Club, and had to scramble to find an alternative venue. She said that while writing the book, Military Inc. Inside Pakistan's Military Economy, many of her friends had tried to warn her off the sensitive subject.

“What has happened to the launch today bears witness to the fact that my friends’ apprehensions were correct,” she said at the launch, held in a crowded office of a non-governmental group.