KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has sent a defamation notice worth 10 million dollars to a journalist of the New York Times for allegedly causing disrepute to the party chief Altaf Hussain in a baseless published report.
The defamation notice has been sent to the New York Times’ former Islamabad bureau chief, Declan Walsh, and the editor, printer and publisher of the newspaper, the MQM official website says.
It says that the notice was served by the party’s counsel Barrister Farogh Naseem over the baseless reporting on behalf of the NYT that had caused damage to the repute of Altaf Hussain.
In the legal notice, the MQM has asked Declan Walsh to tender an un-conditional apology within seven days and warned of due legal action in case of failure to do so.
Earlier on Saturday, the MQM Coordination Committee in a statement rejected the report published in ‘New York Times’ as a mischievous attempt to assassinate the character of party’s chief.
“The news story, reported by Declan Walsh, who was expelled from Pakistan after the government declared him a persona-non-grata, is absolutely unfounded and fabricated”, it said.
