ISLAMBAD, Nov 30: Parallel bodies of the Council for Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) elected on Tuesday their office-bearers as the organisation representing editors in the country formally split into two groups following differences during a standing committee meeting a day earlier on the method of inducting new members.

On Monday a large number of members of standing committee had walked out from the annual meeting after accusing the organisation's outgoing president and secretary general, Khushnood Ali Khan and Aamir Mehmood, of ignoring the rules for inducting new members.

Following elections in separate halls in the same hotel here on Tuesday, both sides claimed to have support of majority of members.

The incumbent CPNE president and secretary general Khushnood Ali Khan of daily Jinnah and Aamir Mehmood of monthly Kiran were re-elected unopposed by one faction. Nawa-e-Waqt Islamabad's Resident Editor Javed Siddique was elected senior vice-president.

The other group elected Jamil Athar and Ilyas Shakir as president and secretary general. They are editors of daily Tijarat and Qaumi Akhbar. Qazi Asad Abid was elected senior vice-president.

A spokesman for the group said in a statement that a contempt of court notice has been filed before Civil Judge, Islamabad, against Khushnood Ali Khan and Aamir Mehmood for allegedly violating the court's order regarding the procedure for inducting fresh members.