LAHORE, July 25: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Monday expressed ignorance about the arrest in Karachi of a reporter of daily Star, Rasheed Channa, but promised to look into the matter. Mr Channa was picked up from his residence in Karachi on Sunday afternoon and was released after about 12 hours.

“I don’t know who has arrested the said gentleman. I will look into it,” President Musharraf said. The president was answering a question at a meeting here with editors, columnists and senior journalists.

When it was pointed out to him that the CEO of the Dawn Group of Newspapers had also received threats of arrest from the Sindh government, the president said it should not happen. “I don’t think such a thing would have happened at all,” he said.