Pakistani authorities have told a newspaper to stop publishing photos and sermons of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and elusive Taliban founder Mullah Omar. Urdu-language daily Ummat has been printing the wanted pair's images and sayings since late 2001, when a US-led military campaign ousted Afghanistan's hardline Islamic Taliban militia from power. "We have issued a notice, asking them to explain from where they were getting these sayings and statements of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar every day," Sindh provincial government spokesman Salahuddin Haider said.
| Does raise a few questions, doesn't it? |
Mr Haider says that the two have been declared international terrorists so the Government had a right to know from where the newspaper is getting the material. He says that there are "strong suspicions" that the newspaper might be getting funds from groups linked to Taliban and Al Qaeda. The newspaper says it has already ceased publishing material on bin Laden and Omar, but denies receiving funds from any group. "We have received the notice on Tuesday, but had stopped publishing the sayings and photographs three days back," a senior official of the newspaper said. |