ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) on Sunday condemned what it called a character assassination campaign launched against a senior journalist, Mubashir Zaidi , on the basis of a recent reporting trip to a religious seminary and demanded an immediate end to his "media trial".

RIUJ president Afzal Butt said in a statement Mr Zaidi accompanied the Los Angeles Times bureau chief to the seminary not as a translator but was himself working as a correspondent for the paper in Pakistan for the last one year.

He said Mr Zaidi had also been working as a reporter in Islamabad for the monthly magazine Herald for the last five years and "never indulged in irresponsible reporting".

"We demand that the government and the concerned departments end this media trial of Mr Zaidi to provide relief to his family, which has been under a lot of stress because of the situation," the RIUJ president said.