Brussels: A global body of journalists today urged Pakistan's new government for a "fresh start for press freedom" and announced a new fact-finding mission to the country.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the fact-finding mission "will be an opportunity to put positive aims and realistic objectives on the table."

"We expect and hope that the mood of change will reinforce the robust professionalism which is a hallmark of journalism in Pakistan," IFJ General Secretary Aidan White, who will lead a team to Pakistan this week, said here.

The mission will be the third intervention by the international journalists movement in the past 12 months when attacks on the media have accompanied temporary suspension of democratic rule in Pakistan.

However, the IFJ hoped the election of a new government in fiercely contested elections last month will open the door to a new dialogue and backing for action to strengthen independent and ethical journalism.

Last week, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, which is hosting the mission, expressed concern over the kidnapping of two daily newspaper journalists in Baluchistan.

Three weeks ago a senior journalist was murdered in Quetta, the seventh journalist to die in violent circumstances in Pakistan in the past year. Journalists fear that security agencies may be behind the latest kidnappings.

The Brussels-based IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide.

Source : PTI