Reporters end jail hunger strike

Marc Epstein (left) and Jean-Paul Guilloteau were arrested in Quetta

Two French journalists imprisoned for visa offences in Pakistan have stopped their hunger strike, their lawyer said.

Marc Epstein and Jean-Paul Guilloteau began a fast earlier on Monday to protest against their imprisonment.

The men were arrested last week for allegedly visiting the city of Quetta, near the Afghan border, without a permit from the Pakistani authorities.

Police say the men had disobeyed Pakistan's strict laws governing the movement of foreigners.

The journalists' lawyer, Nafees Siddiqi, said they had ended their hunger strike "on the advice of the French diplomatic authorities, their own magazine's management and myself".

The two Frenchmen were working on an assignment from the Paris-based news magazine, L'Express, at the time of their arrest.

A letter released by the journalists' lawyer said they were refusing to eat or drink in jail in protest at having been arrested for doing their job.

"We feel we are journalists who have only done their jobs as journalists and we do not understand why we are treated as criminals, retained against our will in court," said the letter.

Mr Siddiqi said he had applied for bail for the men at a court in the southern city of Karachi, where they are being held.

An earlier bail application for the men was rejected.

Pakistani journalist missing

According to police, the men broke the conditions of their visa by travelling to Quetta, whereas their permit restricted them to the cities of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.

Prosecutors say the men also travelled to Afghanistan - a charge they deny.

Pakistan's state-owned TV station reported that the men had been investigating the presence of Taleban fighters in the provinces bordering Afghanistan.

A Pakistani journalist, Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, was also arrested with the French journalists - he has not been seen or heard of since.

The pressure group for journalists, Reporters Without Borders, has called upon the Pakistani authorities to release the men.