US against any rolling back of gains in press freedom in Pak

Washington, June 6 (UNI) The Bush administration has asserted that it is important that there should be no roll back of gains made in press freedom in that country in recent years.

Replying to a question yesterday, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said it was watching the implementation of a decree issued by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that empowers authorities to curb the media.

Mr McCormack wanted what he described as ''our friends in Pakistan'' to view a free media as an institution that ultimately strengthens the society adding that the media have a responsibility to report the news accurately and objectively.

Referring to advances made in bringing greater freedoms, including greater freedom of the press in Pakistan over the years under President Musharraf's government he said, ''certainly, nobody would want to see those openings reversed.'' The States Department spokesman, however, said, ''the steps that the Pakistani government has taken over the last several years, we believe, are generally in the right direction. And we want to encourage them. But it is also important to remember that even though a situation may be somewhat difficult, and that there is some turmoil in the system, over the long term, it is important not to roll back any of the advances that have been made over recent years.'' He reiterated the US stand that the controversy over President Musharraf's suspension of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry needs to be resolved by the Pakistanis themselves within the confines of the country's laws and judicial process.

Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos and the House committee's ranking Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to call for an immediate end to political violence in Pakistan, and to press the Musharraf government to commit to holding free and fair elections by year's end.

In a joint letter, the three lawmakers said, the national interests of both Pakistan and the United States are served by a speedy restoration of full democracy in Pakistan and an end to what they termed ''state sponsored intimidation,'' some of it violent, against Pakistani citizens peacefully protesting government actions.

They called for Ms Rice to make a public appeal to that end, and also raise the issues ''forcefully'' in diplomatic contacts with Pakistani officials.

UNI