Afghanistan cracks down on commercials that favour U.S. troops

KABUL
(Reuters) – The
Afghan
government,
increasingly at
odds with
Washington, is
cracking down
on
advertisements that promote keeping U.S. troops
in Afghanistan after 2014 and has already shut
down a spot aired by the country's most widely
watched broadcasters.
The commercials – some funded by a U.S.
organisation – have drawn official criticism because
they urge President Hamid Karzai to abandon his
refusal to sign a security pact with the United
States that would enable the troops to stay.
Broadcasters, which ran the spots for several
weeks, came under investigation on grounds that
their source of funding was unclear. All have pulled
the advertisements off the air.
"We have launched an investigation into
broadcasters to find out where they receive money
from for such advertisements," Basir Azizi, a
spokesman for the attorney general, told Reuters
on Wednesday.
Despite Karzai's refusal to sign the Bilateral
Security Agreement (BSA) unless several
conditions were met, many Afghans are uncertain
the army is able to fend off Taliban insurgents
without help from the NATO-led ISAF coalition of
troops.
The commercials often include interviews with
rank-and-file Afghans calling on Karzai to sign the
accord immediately.
In one spot, the head of a cultural association tells
the president: "You should accept the people's
demand and sign this as soon as possible."
The crackdown is the latest symptom of Karzai's
hostility to Washington. Last week, he cited a
deadly attack on a restaurant to accuse the United
States of doing too little to fight terrorism.
MEDIA FREEDOM
Afghanistan's media watchdog said pressure on
broadcasters was hurting attempts to establish the
industry's independence.
"Such actions by the government are a clear
attempt to limit freedom of speech and put at risk
advances in the media industry," Mujib
Khelwatgar, Director General of NAI media
watchdog, told Reuters.
Government figures show that more than 50
private television stations, 150 radio broadcasters
and about 1,000 newspapers have sprung up since
the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Broadcasters were aware that the spots were
funded by ISAF or related groups, but saw "public
service" advertising as a source of revenue.
These include media groups like Radio Killid.
"Killid Radio is being paid 400 to 500 euros by ISAF
per minute to air adverts for the BSA on a daily
basis," Najiba Ayubi, the director of Radio Killid,
told Reuters.
Afghanistan's most popular channel, Tolo TV, is
paid by Ads Village to run the spots, according to
industry sources. The company says it is funded by
ISAF and the U.S. state aid agency
USAID.
"All adverts are treated with similar terms and
conditions, whether it is on BSA or a brand of
mineral water," Massood Sanjar, Tolo TV's channel
manager, told Reuters.
Industry sources said that Tolo TV paid $700-
$1,000 a minute to air the spots several times over
a 24 hour period.
The ISAF declined to indicate how much it spends
on advertising, saying: "Public information
released… is intended to inform and educate the
public on the mission and operations of ISAF and
our Afghan National Security Forces partners."
(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Editing by Jessica
Donati and Gareth Jones)

Sent From David Aniemeka