Pakistan to Repeal Media Curbs as Channels Plan Code of Conduct

June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf agreed to withdraw curbs imposed on private television channels this week, after broadcasters said they would develop a code of ethics, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said.

Representatives of the broadcasters' association ``assured that the government's concerns will be addressed in the code of conduct,'' Durrani said in a phone interview from Islamabad today. Musharraf, who met the broadcasters in the capital, directed the government to withdraw the law, he said.

Musharraf approved a law on June 4 that allowed the government to cancel licenses or seize equipment of broadcasters deemed to have violated rules set by the media regulator. The law increased the penalty 10-fold to 1 million rupees ($16,490) for violating the rules.

The law sparked nationwide demonstrations by journalists and human rights agencies. The law gives the regulator ``unfettered power'' to halt transmissions and is an assault on media freedom, the New York-based Human Rights Watch had said.

The government had said broadcasters were violating rules by showing live coverage of rallies by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was removed by Musharraf on March 9 for misusing his authority. In a June 1 statement, the regulator stopped broadcasters from telecasting talk shows about the country's army and the judiciary.

Musharraf sparked the biggest challenge to his rule since his military takeover in 1999 when he removed Pakistan's top judge from his post. Protests by lawyers escalated into mass demonstrations in major cities over his plan to seek a second five-year term as president.