South Asia News
Pakistani police arrest 150 journalists at rally (Extra)
Nov 20, 2007, 13:55 GMT
Islamabad - Police in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday baton-charged journalists protesting curbs on the media imposed by President Pervez Musharraf and arrested more 150 people, news reports said.
Several demonstrators were injured in the clashes, which occurred outside the city's press club, Geo News reported on its website, the television channel's only service still operating after it was shut down by the government at midnight Friday.
Geo and the private ARY news channel were closed after they refused to accept self-censorship requirements put forward by the government during the state of emergency declared on November 3.
Other Pakistani and foreign broadcasters had their transmissions blocked under the emergency measures which have drawn international condemnation and prompted almost daily protests by journalists, lawyers and opposition forces.
US Ambassador Anne Patterson visited the offices of Geo on Monday during a trip to Karachi to consult with opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
The arrests of the journalists followed an announcement by the Interior Ministry that it had released 3,400 people detained during the emergency as a step to normalize the situation.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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