Pakistan Papers Publish Faux WikiLeaks

Posted on Dec 10, 2010

AP / Khalid Tanveer

Protesters in Multan, Pakistan, condemn the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

An already fraught relationship between India and Pakistan got a bit more taut after a lapse of journalistic responsibility led several leading Pakistani papers to publish fabricated WikiLeaks cables that more resembled anti-Indian propaganda than diplomatic correspondence.

The papers that published the fake cables have since acknowledged that they were hoaxed.—JCL

Al-Jazeera English:

Several leading Pakistani newspapers have acknowledged that they were hoaxed, after publishing reports based on fake WikiLeaks cables that contained crude anti-India propaganda.

The reports, which featured prominently in several papers on Thursday, cited alleged US diplomatic cables as confirming many right-wing Pakistani views and conspiracy theories about the country’s arch enemy India and the disputed Kashmir region.

Much of Pakistan’s media toes a pro-military, anti-Indian line, which was reflected by the papers’ extensive coverage of the fake memos.

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