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Pakistan's Geo News off air

Channel sues ISI for defamation

Agencies
Pakistan took the country's most popular television channel off air yesterday, the latest twist in a bitter row between Geo News and Islamabad's top spy agency over the shooting of a leading journalist
The government's media regulatory body said in a statement the station's licence was being suspended for 15 days and it would have to pay a fine of 10 millionrupees ($100,000).
Meanwhile, Geo News yesterday said it is suing the powerful spy agency for defamation over accusations of being anti-state; it said yesterday.
"Geo and Jang Group (have) served legal notice on the Ministry of Defence, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) for defaming and maligningthe group," the channel said in a report published in a newspaper owned by its parent company.
"More than 8,000 journalists, workers and professionals attached to the group and their families are not only being harassed but also attacked and tortured across Pakistan.'
Geo News has also given the ISI 14 days to retract its accusations and issue apublicapology.
The standoff over Geo, part of the privately owned Jang Group, has exposed divisions between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army which has ruled the country for more than half of its history.
The military has long seen the government's resistance to efforts to shut Geo News as a sign of defiance and
PEMRA's latest move is seen as a compromise solution after weeks of tension.
Although Pakistani media have become increasingly vibrant in recent years, with stories exposing corruption or injustices appearing frequently on the pages of the country's many dailies, publiccriticism ofthe army or the ISI is largely taboo.
Observers will view the decision, which the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said was "unanimous", as a blow to freedom of expression as the all powerful army clamps down on critical coverage.
Geo News has locked horns with thelnterServices Intelligence (ISI) ever since a prominent anchor of the television channel was attacked in the volatileportcityofKarachiinApril.
Hamid Mir was shot three times but survived, with his family blaming the chief of the ISI, General Zaheer-ul-Islam, forthe attempted murder.
Mir's brother, Amir Mir, said Hamid had told him before the attack that he felt threatened and if anything happened to him the ISI chief "would be responsible".
Geo News broadcast images of Islam along with the Mir family allegations for eight hours, infuriating the military which filed a complaint to PEMRA seekingthe channel’s closure.
Mir has criticised the country’s powerful intelligence agencies and military for their alleged role in the abduction of thousands of people in the restive southwestern province of