WASHINGTON: The US on Friday urged Pakistan to restore operations of Radio Mashaal shut down by Islamabad for allegedly broadcasting programmes against the “interests” of the country.
The Pashto-language radio station of US Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was operating from the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Last week Pakistan had shut down Islamabad bureau of Radio Mashaal after security forces alleged that its programmes were “against the interest of Pakistan. The allegations were denied by REF/RL. “Radio Mashaal serves no intelligence agency or government,” RFE/RL president Thomas Kent had said.
“We are very concerned about the Pakistani Ministry of Interior’s decision to close the offices of Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Liberties, Radio Marshall in Islamabad on January 19th,” State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at the Washington DC Foreign Press Center.
