Pakistan Warns Journalists
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan will deport any foreign journalists who visit its prohibited border region or travel to Afghanistan without proper documents, the government said Saturday.
The warning by Foreign Ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammed Khan was made after two French and one British journalist were arrested after slipping into Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have barred foreign journalists during the crisis with the United States over last month's terrorist bombings. Pakistan has tightened travel restrictions in its semiautonomous tribal region that runs along most of the border.
Khan urged journalists not to be "adventurous," adding the government would take unspecified action against their employers as well.
Even during the normal times, foreigners needed special passes and armed escorts while traveling to the lawless tribal region, where kidnappings are common and markets are flooded with weapons and drugs.
The government says foreign journalists were barred from visiting these areas for their safety.
One of the detained French journalists, Michel Peyrard of the French weekly Paris Match, tried to disguise himself by wearing a woman's burqa, or full-length veil. He was apparently still jailed in Afghanistan.
The other French journalist, Aziz Zemouri of Le Figaro magazine, was arrested in Afghanistan and handed over to Pakistani officials. British journalist Yvonne Ridley, who works for the Sunday Express of London, was released and sent to Pakistan last week.
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