No decision taken on the Skype, Viber ban: Chaudhry Nisar

The interior minister said that he was against the ban.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Thursday that the federal government had taken no decision on the Sindh government's stance of banning Skype, Viber and other communication services in Sindh for three months, Express News reported. 

The interior minister while condemning the ban said that he was against the move.

"I will go through the Sindh government's application in favour of the ban to see how much weight it carries," he added.

He said that upon taking charge as interior minister he had also disallowed the suspension of mobile services.

Earlier in the day, the Sindh government decided to ban instant messaging and voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) clients Skype, Viber and other communication networks, including Tango and WhatsApp citing security reasons.

The decision was taken during a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and other officials including the additional IG Karachi, DG Rangers and representatives of intelligence agencies.

Law and order situation

The interior minister in a telephonic conversation with Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah discussed the prevalent law and order situation and said that details be disclosed about the arrested suspects.

"The identification of the suspects and their parties will not only create problem in investigation, but provokes some elements; therefore we should keep their identity secrete,” sources privy to the meeting said.