KARACHI, March 5: Eight members of the Sindh Bar Council have urged the government to withdraw the ban placed by it on the publication of its advertisements in two newspapers.

The SBC members said in a joint statement on Friday that the ban on Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation was repugnant to the freedom of the press guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution. It also belied the government claim that there was complete freedom of expression in the country.

They noted that the two papers were critical of the 'military' government's policy to pursue a pro- US foreign policy. The action had been taken to silence dissent, they said.

The statement was signed by Mustafa Lakhani, M. Sadiq Hidayatullah, M. Yasin Azad, M. Siddique Khoso, Muhammad Aqil, M. Ismail Memon, M. Sarfraz Khan and M. Ayaz Soomro. They asked the government to lift the ban immediately and give the papers their due share of advertisements.