January 18, 2008	Friday	Muharram 08, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The government of Pakistan has rejected a ‘Freedom House’ report which says that political freedom is retreating in large parts of the world, including Pakistan. The report by the US-based democracy watchdog was released in Washington on Wednesday.

According to a press release issued by the Press Information Department, a government spokesman described the report as ‘outdated, contrary to facts and misleading’.

The spokesman said that ‘isolated incidents of violence’ had been blown up out of all proportion ‘ignoring the socio-political milieu prevalent in developing countries like Pakistan’.

The spokesman added that the government of Pakistan “believes in freedom of expression and the media in Pakistan enjoy freedom that would be the envy of any civil society”.