Musharraf drops media crackdown
By Mark Dummett
BBC News, Islamabad
Pakistani women protest against curbs on the media, Peshawar, 5 June 2007
Pakistanis have protested against "gags" on the media
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has ordered the withdrawal of new media restrictions following a wave of protests and foreign criticism.
He has reversed his decision to give the state broadcasting authority more powers to shut down TV stations.
The decree meant broadcasters could be punished if deemed to have been too critical of the armed forces or to have undermined national unity.
Pakistani broadcasters welcomed the turnaround as "a good decision".
'Curb on free speech'
After a week of protests by journalists, lawyers and opposition supporters across Pakistan, and strong criticism from abroad, Gen Musharraf appears to have backed down.
He withdrew his order to give the Pakistan electronic media regulatory authority new powers to close television stations, after their owners agreed to formulate a code of conduct.
Journalists said the president's decree was a serious attack on free speech in the country, and was punishment for their coverage of the protests that followed his suspension of the chief justice in March.
The government has also blocked live broadcasts by several private channels after their televised rallies in support of the chief justice and criticisms of the president and army.
President Musharraf is reported as saying that he had always supported media freedom, and since he had issued the television channels their licences in the first place he had no intention of closing them down.
It is not clear whether the restrictions on live broadcasting have also been lifted.
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