Missing Pakistani reporter held on security charge

KARACHI, June 22 (Reuters) A Pakistani journalist who disappeared months ago after filming an air base has been arrested for violating official secrets, his employer said today.

Mukesh Rupeta, a journalist with private Geo television, vanished without trace in March after filming the base near the southern city of Jacobabad, the managing director of Geo TV, Azhar Abbas, told Reuters.

''Rupeta's whereabouts were not known until last night,'' Abbas said.

A spotlight was thrown on journalism in Pakistan last week when a reporter abducted by unknown gunmen in December turned up dead, shot in the head and handcuffed. That reporter covered security issues on the volatile Afghan border.

Police said Rupeta faced charges relating to leaking official secrets and forging documents.

''He could face up to seven years in jail if convicted,'' said a police official in Jacobabad, in the southern province of Sindh.

A global press watchdog called on the government to resolve Rupeta's case swiftly.

''The situation for journalists in Pakistan, particularly in the area of Sindh, seems to be deteriorating,'' Christopher Warren, president of International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said in a statement.

''The IFJ urges authorities to firmly address the dangers by providing security for journalists and harsh penalties for those who attack media workers.'' Pakistan allowed US-led forces to use the air base at Jacobabad to support the invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001.

Authorities say foreign forces no longer use the base.

REUTERS PR PM1511