"In one fell swoop, the government, which till now has been praised for being relatively tolerant of media criticism, has lost much of its credibility and goodwill," said the News, which has offices in the same building as Geo.
One of its offices was also damaged in the raid.
Musharraf, in an unusual step, called Geo to apologize personally.
"This should have not happened. I apologize. The culprits must be identified and punished," he told the station.
An initial probe has resulted in the sacking of 15 police officers, a senior official said yesterday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
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