KARACHI, Oct 15: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has said that federal information minister's recent threat to proceed against newspapers under the Anti-Terrorism Act constituted a grave threat to freedom of the press in the country.

Taking serious notice of the minister's criticism of the national press, the CPNE said in a press release that Pakistani newspapers were professionally trying to keep their readers informed about developments within and outside the country.

However, if the government felt that its image was damaged by such reports, then instead of trying to gag the press it should make efforts to improve the situation, the CPNE said.

Referring to the minister's allegations against some Pakistani newspapers, whom he accused of portraying terrorists as heroes, the CPNE described it as just a pretext to gag the press, although such reports are also published in foreign newspapers.

It was an attempt to deny the people of Pakistan the right to know as envisaged in Article 19 of the constitution. It said that the CPNE and the government had agreed to a code of conduct, but formation of a press council was necessary to take care of its violations.