New York, Dec 03: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's military government is increasingly condoning the harassment of independent journalists to a worrying degree, a US human rights group has charged. Human Rights Watch (HRW) sent a letter to Musharraf -- a US ally in the war on terror who seized power in a 1999 coup -- yesterday concerning the case of one journalist who has faced alleged harassment.

"In the letter, human rights watch highlighted the case of Amir Mir, senior assistant editor of the monthly magazine Herald, whom Musharraf reportedly threatened at a November 20 reception for Pakistani newspaper editors," the rights group said in a statement. Musharraf reportedly condemned the herald for being anti-army in comments directed at Mir's stories.

"Two days later, unidentified persons set Amir Mir's car ablaze outside his house," the rights group claimed adding that Mir then received a message purportedly from Pakistan's intelligence services warning this was just the beginning.

"General Musharraf should publicly disassociate himself from the comments about the herald and order an investigation into the attack on Amir Mir's car," said Brad Adams, executive director of the HRW's Asia division. "It is time for General Musharraf to show the world whether he is a reformer -- or no different from other military rulers," Adams stressed.

HRW also raised the case of Rasheed Azam, a journalist and political activist from Khuzdar in Balochistan province, who was arrested on sedition charges in 2002.

Bureau Report