WASHINGTON: Pakistan's officialdom is proving reluctant to take responsibility for dreaming up a half-page advertisement...
WASHINGTON: Pakistan's officialdom is proving reluctant to take responsibility for dreaming up a half-page advertisement taken out in The Wall Street Journal last weekend to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, a top US daily reported.
The paper in its report said: "The ad asked, "Which country can do more for your peace?" It went on to list the sacrifices that Pakistan has made in fighting terrorism over the past decade, including suffering almost 3,000 deaths of armed forces personnel".
'One Pakistani government official said the idea for the ad came from the army's public relations division, which has been keen to counter the US's contention that Pakistan continues to harbor Taliban militants.'
'Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali, a spokesman for the division, denied the army was behind the idea and said it was the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting who came up with it. The Information Ministry did not respond to questions', the report said.
The government official said the army pushed the idea through the office of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, which then passed it on to the Information ministry. Attempts to contact a spokesman for PM Gilani were not successful, the paper reported.
The official said a number of people in Pakistan's government questioned the ad, saying it was a waste of money and would make Pakistan look as if it was berating the US on Sept. 11. (A half-page ad in the eastern edition of the WSJ, where Pakistan's ran, costs some $38,000).
The ad was created by an agency which has worked with the military before, the government official said. It was not possible to contact the company through phone numbers listed on its website.
The provenance of the ad is interesting because it could be the first time Pakistan's military has attempted to take its public and increasingly heated debate with the US to the pages of a major US newspaper.
The ad, if it indeed comes from the Pakistan army, can be seen as part of this public battle which is often played out through the international media.
The Pakistan army also attempted to place the ad in the New York Times. A spokeswoman for the newspaper said the newspaper had asked for the ad to more clearly state that the government of Pakistan was paying for it.
The Times did not hear back from the ad agency that placed the ad and has not yet run it, the spokeswoman said. She declined to name the agency.
A spokeswoman for the paper said the newspaper does not comment on advertising.