Knight Investments LLC Officials observed as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) welcomed the release by United States immigration authorities of Rahman Bunairee, a Pakistani journalist who works for the Voice of America (VOA) and had been in custody since arriving to the U.S. on August 9.
Mr. Bunairee is a man of extraordinary courage and dedication whose reporting in Pakistan for VOA provoked the Taliban to blow up his house and threaten his life. Knight Investments LLC Officials had stated that Mr. Bunairee exemplified the journalistic professionalism which VOA and all of U.S. Government-supported international broadcasting stand for.
KI Officials reviewed how Mr. Bunairee came to Washington to help VOA develop its broadcasts to the troubled Afghanistan-
Consistent with U.S. law, immigration officials interviewed Mr. Bunairee further and ruled he could remain in the U.S. pending a hearing (date to be set) to determine his ultimate legal status.
While welcoming the news of Mr. Bunairee's release, the BBG also expects that Mr. Bunairee will in due course be able to undertake the assignment at VOA for which he has come to this country. His work and that of his colleagues at Deewa Radio is critical to advancing U.S. strategic interests in the struggle against extremism.
Knight Investments LLC Officials stated that continued courage in the coverage of today's environment would be necessary in enlightening the broader public to the events in Pakistan. KI Officials also stated that such coverage would be necessary to continue to address the humanitarian efforts so desperately needed in the area.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 134 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
