By Syed Raza Hassan
KARACHI, July 24 (Reuters) - The Pakistani government plans
to shut down BlackBerry Ltd's BB.TO BBRY.O secure messaging
services by Dec. 1 for "security reasons", the Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority said on Friday.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people, is
plagued by militancy, criminal gangs and drug traffickers.
"PTA has issued directions to local mobile phone operators
to close BlackBerry Enterprise Services from Nov. 30 on security
reasons," an official with the Pakistan Telecommunications
Authority said in a text message.
He asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of
discussing communications and intelligence.
BlackBerry was not immediately available to comment.
A report released this week by British-based watchdog
Privacy International said Pakistan's powerful military
intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was
seeking to dramatically expand its ability to intercept
communications.
BlackBerry encrypts data such as emails and its BlackBerry
Messenger messages sent between a user's phone and public
networks, ensuring greater privacy for users but making life
harder for police and intelligence agencies.
The company has faced similar problems in the past in India,
the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
The Privacy International report said the ISI had few legal
checks on their surveillance.
"Pakistan's intelligence agencies have abused their
communications surveillance powers, including by spying on
opposition politicians and Supreme Court judges. Widespread
Internet monitoring and censorship has also been used to target
journalists, lawyers and activists," the report said.
(Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Alistair Sharp and
Alison Williams)