Britain's Daily Telegraph Monday stated that it has withdrawn its Pakistan correspondents over an editorial last week which contained an expletive.

The editorial, which criticised Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Sunday prompted the president to say that he expected an apology from the paper.

"The Telegraph has withdrawn its correspondents in Pakistan after they were threatened with expulsion by the government," a two-paragraph article in the paper stated. "The move comes after the Pakistan High Commission complained about the language used to describe President Musharraf in a leading article last week."

The Daily Telegraph refused to comment when contacted by AFP on Sunday. However, it did not rule out the possibility to comment on the issue later this week, Yahoo News reported.

According to Britain's foreign ministry on Sunday, the three journalists were on their way back to Britain, and the British high commissioner had complained to Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri about the journalists' treatment.

"We believe media freedom is essential to economic and social development and stability, and actively support the development of a free and fair press in Pakistan," said a Foreign Office spokesman.

Pakistan Saturday ordered three Telegraph reporters to leave the country within 72 hours due to the "foul and abusive language," a week after Musharraf's declaration of “state of emergency,” which also included strict restrictions on the media.

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