Radio News: Pakistan shuts down U.S.-funded Radio Mashaal

Jan 21, 2018 10:50 pm
Shashank Bengali and Aoun Sahi report in the Los Angeles Times that on Jan. 19 Pakistan closed Radio Mashaal, a U.S. government-funded radio station. Pakistani authorities said Radio Mashaal broadcasts were “against the interests of Pakistan,” saying the station's reports made the country seem like “a hub of terrorism” and “a failed state.” The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, part of the Pakistani military, made the decision, according to the report. Recently the administration of Donald Trump says it will withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance from the country because, it said, terrorists from Pakistan are crossing into Afghanistan to attack U.S.-led coalition troops there. Trump himself has called out “lies and deceit” from Pakistan recently on Twitter. Pakistan said the U.S-funded station's broadcasts were “in line with [a] hostile intelligence agency’s agenda.” The station broadcast in the Pashto language and was popular in the northwestern part of the country where many Pashtun refugees who have fled from Afghanistan live. The Los Angeles Times wrote, "The station is part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a nonprofit broadcasting organization funded by Congress and based in Prague, Czech Republic. Started during the Cold War as an alternative to pro-Soviet propaganda, the organization airs programs in 23 countries that it says face media restrictions, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran." Radio Free Europe president Thomas Kent said the station has, "no connection to the intelligence agencies of any country."
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