Islamabad, Dec 04: Pakistan has rejected as "baseless" criticism by a US-based human rights watch which alleged that Pakistani journalists were being harassed for their write ups against the government. "The report by the US-based human rights watch about harassment of two journalists by the government of Pakistan is a matter of deep regret," Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said.
"The claim that President Pervez Musharraf threatened Herald journalist Amir Mir during his November 20 meeting with editors and columnists is absolutely unfounded and baseless. It is nothing but a pack of lies that the ISI threatened the journalist and was involved in burning his car," he claimed.
"The incident could be a result of some personal enmity or any criminal activity," Rashid said adding the government has taken note of the alleged incident and the police have been ordered to carry out a thorough probe.
"It is unfortunate and highly condemnable that the incident is being exploited by vested interest to malign a leader whose commitment to the cause of freedom of press is beyond any doubt and a proven fact," he claimed.
HRW in a letter to Musharraf highlighted the case of Amir Mir, senior assistant editor of the monthly magazine Herald, whom President Musharraf reportedly threatened at a November 20 reception for Pakistani newspaper editors.
Mir was reportedly being singled for anti-army stories. Mir's car was later torched and he received threats from Pakistan's inter-services intelligence (ISI) agency, the HRW had said.
Bureau Report