CNN doesn't need a defense on this. "Conservative" means adhering to traditional values. "Liberal" means less traditional, modernizing, changing. CNN clearly put that Pakistan is a COSERVATIVE ISLAMIC country. It adheres to traditional Islamic values without wanting to change. Get over your conspiracy complex.
And you're probably right. But a conservative Islamist is not the same as a Republican. To avoid being confused with someone who would commit honor killings, I just tell people when they ask my political persuasion that I am a conservaliberpublictarian. Oh, and I'm a Christian, and Christians don't kill their kids.