NEW YORK: The United States urged Pakistan on Friday to lift a ban onUS-funded Radio Mashaal, BBC Urdu reported.
US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert expressed American’sconcerns regarding the ban, adding that the reservations had been forwardedto Islamabad.
“The ban on Radio Free Europe/Radio Free Liberty station concerns the US,”she told reporters at a press briefing. “We have informed the Pakistanigovernment about our concerns and demand them to withdraw the decision ofclosing down Radio Mashaal without any delay.”
Last week, authorities shut down US-funded Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty‘s Pashto-language station in the country on for airing content“against the interest of Pakistan”. The office of RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal inIslamabad was ordered closed by the Ministry of Interior.
The notification accused Radio Mashaal of portraying Pakistan as a “failedstate” and “a hub of terrorism and safe haven for different militantgroups”. It alleged that the station was “distorting facts (to) incite thetarget population against the state and its institutions”, referring toethnic Pashtuns.
According to its website, Radio Mashaal was launched in 2010 to helpundermine militants. RFE/RL, founded in 1950 to beam programmes into thecommunist bloc, is funded by a grant from the US Congress. It currentlybroadcasts in 25 languages and aims to “serve as a ‘surrogate’ free pressin 23 countries where the free flow of information is banned or not fullydeveloped.”
Radio Mashaal broadcasts from Prague
With its Pakistan bureau shut by authorities last week, Radio Mashaal isbroadcasting from its headquarters in a distant Prague, waiting for “thedust to settle,” according to its senior editor.
“We read the charges through social media. We were not informed by anygovernment agent,” Daud Khattak, Radio Mashaal’s Prague-based senior editorsaid.
Funded by the US Congress, Radio Free Europe or Radio Liberty was foundedin 1950. It currently broadcasts in 25 languages. Mashaal has over 1.6million Facebook fans and scored 81 million video views on Facebook and 10million views on YouTube in 2017. Its closure coincides with heightenedtensions between Islamabad and Washington.
Meanwhile, the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) also expressedconcern on Friday that “members of Radio Mashaal are facing pressure byauthorities following the closure of the Pashto-language service’sIslamabad office on ISI’s orders last week”.
In a statement posted on the RFE/RL’s website, its President Thomas Kentsaid there were indications that authorities were seeking to compel RadioMashal staffers to make forced statements against the news organisation.
Kent demanded that the safety of Mashaal journalists “be ensured, and thatthey be permitted to resume their work without fear or delay”.