Pakistan expels NYT bureau chief over 'undesirable activities'

The bureau chief of The New York Times in Pakistan was expelled from the country early yesterday after being ordered to leave for unspecified "undesirable activities".

Declan Walsh, who was hired by the newspaper last year after covering Pakistan for British newspaper The Guardian since 2004, was handed an expulsion order at his home at 12:30am, according to the Times.

"Here I go. Hard to believe this is happening," Walsh, 39, tweeted after filing his last report on Pakistan's landmark general elections.

He was dropped at the airport by Pakistani columnist Cyril Almeida and escorted by a convoy of security officials' vehicles. The expulsion order stated: "It is informed that your visa is hereby cancelled in view of your undesirable activities," according to the Times. "You are therefore advised to leave the country within 72 hours."

Walsh has written about Pakistan's political strife and its tense relations with America.