Maliha Lodhi, editor of a sister newspaper, the English-language daily The News yesterday, said the Jang Group of Newspapers which owns the Urdu language Jang newspaper, has been denied access to its newsprint by the government.

``We are not allowed access to our warehouses... and the customs authorities have stopped our newsprint shipments at the port,'' Lodhi told AP.``we may have to close down our publications in the next couple of days if the newsprint supply is not restored,'' said Lodhi, who also felt the dispute had taken ``a frightening twist.''

The editor said she had received death threats following which she wrote to Interior Minister Shujaat Hussein urging him to take action. ``The latest warning assumes an ominous nature of the current climate ofhostility created by the government's assault on the Jang Group of Newspapers,'' she wrote in her letter. ``I ask for no special facility or favour. But as a citizen of Pakistan, I hold the government responsible for my safety,'' she said.

The Jang Group of Newspapers owns several publications but its flagship newspaper is the Jang. The newspaper group, owned by Shakil ur-Rehman is locked in a bitter feud with Sharif's government. Rehman has accused the prime minister of blatant harassment after his newspapers printed stories of allegations of widespread corrupt practices by Sharif, his family, close associates and government members. Sharif has denied the allegations.The government has accused the Jang Group of evading taxes and customs duties. Rehman claimed the government had fabricated the charges.

At the heart of the dispute, according to Rehman, is a government demand that it dismiss 16 of its journalists and editors, including Lodhi.Earlier, the government froze the Jang Group's bank accounts,stopped government advertisements to several of its publications and ordered it to pay two billion rupees in income tax.

Rehman however said his newspaper group is being targeted because he refused to support government policies and has carried several stories of corruption involving Sharif and his family.

The group also is running an advertisement campaign against the government under the heading `Press Under Siege' and earlier filed a lawsuit against the government accusing it of infringing upon press freedom.

More military courts

Pakistani President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar has issued a decree to form military courts wherever they are needed in the country in a move aimed at curbing terrorism, officials said today.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said yesterday that a speedy trial of people accused of terrorism and violence was necessary to ensure ``prompt and deterrent'' punishment. The decree was issued a day before Pakistan's supreme court is due to begin a hearing into the validity of militarytribunals set up in Karachi in December.