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Missing reporter most unpatriotic: Musharraf.
President Pervez Musharraf said he has "no sympathy whatsoever" for the Pakistani journalist who has disappeared since he was arrested with two French reporters convicted of violating visa rules. Freelance journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi was shown under arrest on state-run television soon after their December 16 arrest in southern port city Karachi, but authorities claim not to know where he is. Not looking good for our friend Khawar. The three journalists were accused by state television of filming a fake militant training camp near Pakistanâs southwest border with Afghanistan, although this accusation was never mentioned in their trial. Fake militants? What, does this put your real militants in a bad light? Musharraf accused Rizvi of trying to defame Pakistan by assisting the French pair in obtaining the allegedly false footage, which was broadcast on Pakistan Television (PTV). He described Rizvi as "a man contriving with the French journalists and trying to concoct a movie showing Pakistan in a bad light." So he was filming a documentary? "Heâs a most unsympathetic man, doesnât deserve any sympathy whatsoever because he was trying to bring harm to my country and heâs the most unpatriotic man," Musharraf told CNN television in an interview from Davos, Switzerland. "He was trying to fabricate a story within Pakistan and purporting it to be Taliban activity from Pakistan and Afghanistan, I have no sympathy for him whatsoever." Rizvi, if you arenât already dead, Iâd suggest you consider relocating. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) earlier Friday demanded that Pakistani authorities divulge Rizviâs fate and wherabouts. But Musharraf said he could not help. "I donât know where he is, Iâd like to find out where the hell he is," the president said. Posted by: Steve 2004-01-23 |
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