October 02, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 19, 1428

WASHINGTON, Oct 1: The United States takes seriously any attempt to close down or hinder media organisations, according to the US State Department.

A State Department statement said on Monday that it had conveyed its concerns to the government of Pakistan both publicly and privately, urging it to “ensure that the media are free to report what’s happening in the country”.

The State Department also urged Islamabad to make certain that the journalists were free to perform their duties “without intimidation and without fear of reprisal”.

At a regular briefing in Washington, the department’s deputy spokesperson Tom Casey noted that the Supreme Court had taken notice of Saturday’s incident when police beat up journalists who were performing their duties, and noted that the court had “shown that they are capable” of dealing with situations like this.

Mr Casey urged the media, the lawyers and the government to “behave responsibly” and to take steps to ensure that the situation did not deteriorate any further.

He also noted that the Supreme Court has already ordered the suspension of Islamabad’s police chief and other officials.

“We want to see the Pakistani people express their views freely and peacefully, and we would hope that neither protestors nor law enforcement officials would resort to violence,” another State Department official told Dawn.

“It’s a fundamental and important right of democratic countries to be able to demonstrate and express views peacefully,” she said.

“In terms of the media freedoms in Pakistan, we want to make sure that all legitimate media representatives are able to help inform the Pakistani people of what’s happening now and in the future,” the official added.

“We continue to convey our concerns about the importance of a free and independent media publicly and privately with the government of Pakistan, and we continue to encourage the government of Pakistan to work closely with the police and other agencies responsible for maintaining public order to ensure that journalists are able to perform their jobs without intimidation and without fear of reprisal.”