Pakistani News Channel Goes Off Air
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- A private TV news station accused Pakistan's government Thursday of blocking its transmissions after it aired a program featuring a critic of President Pervez Musharraf.
The satellite transmission of Aaj television was blocked late Wednesday after commentator Nusrat Javed appeared on-screen, said Aslam Dogar, an assignment editor at the station.
Prior to the broadcast, Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Quereshi had advised Aaj that it should not allow Javed to appear on any of its programs, Dogar said.
Calls to Quereshi for comment were not immediately answered.
Aaj television had been banned in November when Musharraf declared a state of emergency and put curbs on the media.
Rights groups and Pakistani journalists have expressed concern over such actions, saying they negate the official claim that the government respects media freedoms.
The international media rights group Reporters Without Borders accused state-run Pakistan Television of bias against parties opposing Musharraf. The media group noted Musharraf had promised fair and free elections when Pakistanis choose a new parliament Feb. 18.
''The absence of fairness in the coverage provided by the only national terrestrial broadcast channel shows that this is not yet the case,'' the group said in a statement Wednesday.
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