November 13, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 26, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: The United States and the United Kingdom have asked Pakistan to facilitate the setting up of a 24-hour information centre in Islamabad by next week to launch a media campaign against terrorism.

A US embassy official told Dawn that the proposed centre would be an effort to counter the Taliban and Osama bin Laden “propaganda”.

The information secretary, Anwar Mehmood, answering a question about Pakistan’s decision not to allow Taliban to hold press conferences and facilitating the establishment of the US-ed coalition force’s information centre, said that Pakistan did not stop the Taliban from the press conference but only reminded them the third country rule.

When contacted, spokesperson for the Afghan embassy said that Pakistan should have the same policies and rules for the US and the Afghans. “If we have been stopped from holding press conferences, similar rules should be applied on the US and the UK,” a Taliban embassy official close to the ambassador Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef said.

Spokesperson of the British High Commission, when contacted, said that Lord Chancellor’s chief press officer, Allen Percival, is in Islamabad and is busy in establishing the office.

Sources said that once the nitty-gritty of laying the foundations of the media war room is completed, Tanya Joseph, currently working in the press office of Downing Street, will take charge of the office as Britain’s representative in Islamabad. She will be responsible for coordinating information between Washington and London.

The prime concern of the media managers, sources said, is that the media based in Pakistan splashes the “unfounded” Taliban claims around the world due to the fact that Pakistan is 10 hours ahead of Washington and five hours ahead of London. “By the time we can respond to the allegations, Taliban’s lies have already become the headlines,” a British official said.

Many Pakistani journalists feel that in the daily press briefings of the United Nations, the number of civilian casualties is deliberately not given.

One journalist said: “The UN is not aloof from the media war and the way information is given about the death of the dogs of the UN Mine Action Programme as a result of bombings but civilian human casualties are downplayed undermines the UN’s credibility.”

When questioned about the number of civilian casualties as a result of bombings, UN officials blame their rudimentary communication infrastructure in Afghanistan for not sharing the information about civilian casualties.

Answering questions at a recent press briefing about civilian casualties, United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan spokesperson, Hasan Ferdous, said: “Do you want our staff to leave the humanitarian work and rush like journalists to investigate the civilian casualties whenever the bombs fall? Whatever information we get, we share with the media.”