CNN, BBC Al-Jazeera banned from Abbottabad
May 9, 2011
BBC Monitoring is carrying a Press Trust of India report saying that Pakistan’s media regulatory watchdog has barred live broadcasts by major foreign television channels from the garrison city of Abbottabad, where Osama Bin-Ladin was killed by US forces, in an apparent bid to clamp down on coverage of the incident.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said it had “stopped the foreign satellite TV channels from illegal uplinking of signals and live covering (of) news from Abbottabad”. PEMRA’s order affected several major foreign news channels, including CNN, BBC, Fox News, NBC News, Al-Jazeera, Voice of America and Sky News.
Foreign journalists poured into Abbottabad in the wake of Bin-Ladin’s killing amidst interest abroad at the Al-Qa’idah chief’s presence at a compound located a stone’s throw from an elite military academy. Authorities initially gave the media limited access to Bin-Ladin’s compound but it was later sealed by the police and the army. Foreign journalists were asked to leave Abbottabad on Saturday, says the BBC Monitoring report.