KARACHI, Aug. 22: Sindh Adviser on Information Salahuddin Haider has denied reports appearing in a section of the press that MQM ministers called for banning some newspapers in a meeting of the provincial cabinet on Aug 13.

He said that the minister for labour and industries had assured the cabinet that the MQM believed in freedom of the press. He also denied that the word 'rubbish' had been used against any newspaper.

He regretted that some newspapers had been waging a campaign for a couple of weeks about the alleged remarks and publishing scandalous reports about the governor, the chief minister and ministers.

Mr Haider said: "In the past I had lodged a formal complaint against one such newspaper and its editors, but the practice goes on despite best efforts to rectify the situation." -PPI