The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday issued directives to remove Syed Tareq Fatemi, special assistant to the prime minister on foreign affairs, from his post for his alleged role in 'Dawn leaks', adding that a notification in this regard will be issued shortly.
The directive came after an inquiry committee probing a story published by Dawn on October 6, 2016 submitted its findings, along with their recommendations, to PM Nawaz Sharif reportedly on Wednesday, April 26, 2017.
Notably, the statement did not mention why the action has been taken against Fatemi.
Additionally, Rao Tehsin Ali, the principal information officer of the Ministry of Information, "shall be proceeded against under the E&D Rules 1973" on the charges levelled against him in the findings of the report, the missive from the PM's Office read.
The government had formed a committee in November last year to probe the story, which reported the details of a high-level civil-military meeting discussing the issue of banned outfits operating in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister's Office had initially rejected the story, but the military had mounted pressure to demand a probe into the matter to determine those involved in disclosing the details of the meeting.
It initially led to the sacking of Pervaiz Rasheed as information minister, as the government felt Rasheed should have told the newspaper not to publish the story.
The committee subsequently initiated an inquiry to identify the persons responsible for disclosing the details of the meeting to journalist Cyril Almeida.
Almeida's name was also placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) after the publication of the story, but later removed by the Interior Ministry after human rights and journalists' organisations condemned the move.
In an Editor's note, Dawn had clarified its position and stated on the record that the story "was verified, cross-checked and fact-checked."
The PM's Office has referred Dawn to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for 'necessary disciplinary action', but does not say what the charges against the Dawn editor or Almeida are.
The APNS has additionally been asked to develop a Code of Conduct for print media, especially for stories that deal with "issues of national importance and security".
