Ahead of polls, HK bans pirate radio as "air traffic risk"

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A pirate Hong Kong radio station run by democratic activists was ordered to cease broadcasting days before a city-wide legislative council election after the broadcasts were deemed a risk to air traffic control.

Hong Kong's Telecommunications Authority served a notice to Citizens' Radio to stop all broadcasts after a complaint from the Civil Aviation Department that the station's radio transmissions posed a potential aviation threat.

"The interference may pose potential hazard to aircraft operation," the Office of the Telecommunications Authority said in a statement.

The organizers of the radio station, which has a pro-democracy agenda and runs a variety of shows including one hosted by gay youngsters, slammed the muzzle order as political suppression ahead of Sunday's election, in which the pro-democracy camp faces a tough fight to maintain its influence.

The telecoms watchdog said it would take "enforcement action" against Citizens' Radio if it failed to get off the air in Hong Kong, a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Analysts say Hong Kong's pan-democracy camp could struggle in the polls, with a surge in post-Olympic Chinese nationalism possibly swelling public support for pro-Beijing candidates.

(Reporting by Donny Kwok and James Pomfret; Editing by Nick Macfie)