WASHINGTON, June 1: The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York based press freedom organization is conducting an investigation into “hit list” prepared allegedly by the Pakistan government.

“We are looking into it,” a CPJ spokesperson said, confirming that the list contains the names of 35 prominent journalists.

According to the CPJ, the names were: Irshad Ahmed Haqqani, Rehmat Ali Razi, AnjumRasheed, Suhail Warraich, Sohaib Marghoob and Roman Ehsan (Jang, Lahore), M. Ziauddin and Ansar Abbasi (Dawn, Islamabad), Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Javed Jaidi, Nusrat Javed and Mariana Babar (The News Islamabad), Rehana Hakeem and Zahid Hussain (Newsline), Ejaz Haider, Khalid Ahmed, Jugnu Mohsin and Adnan Adil (The Friday Times), Mahmood Sham (Jang, Karachi), Rashed Rehman (The Nation, Lahore), Amir Ahmed Khan (Herald), Imtiaz Alam, Beena Sarwar, Shafiq Awan, Kamila Hyat and Amir Mir (The News, Lahore), Abbas Athar (Nawa-i-Waqt, Lahore), Kamran Khan and Shehzad Amjad (The News, Karachi), Azam Khalil (Pulse), Mohammad Malik (Tribune), Imtiaz Ahmed (The Frontier Post Peshawar), Ilyas Chaudhry (Jang, Rawalpindi), Naveed Meraj (The Frontier Post, Islamabad) and Syed Talat Hussain (The Nation, Islamabad).

According to reports received by the CPJ, the federal government had decided to establish a special media cell comprising officials from the police, Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency to punish the journalists who have been writing against the government.

Ehtesab Bureau chairman Senator Saifur Rehman Khan would head this cell which would function simultaneously at Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Peshawar with its head office at Islamabad.

Source: Dawn

Date:6/2/1999