Pak TV channels may move out of Dubai

Dubai, Nov 24: Pakistan' ARY television network, which was forced to go off air by Emirate authorities purportedly under pressure from the military regime in Islamabad is considering to move its base out of Dubai, a network official said, a day after the Dubai Media City resumed its satellite signal.

''We lost 8 million dollar in 22 days that we were blocked in Pakistan and one week from Dubai. We are scared that it could happen again,'' said ARY Chief Executive Officer Salman Iqbal.

The Dubai Media City had blocked the satellite signal for two popular Pakistani news channels, saying the decision was in line with the UAE's policy of neutrality and non-interference.

The officials of another popular blocked news channel, Geo News, had also informed Gulf News earlier that they too were considering to move out from Dubai, reported Gulf News.

Both the channels ARY and Geo TV were also disbanded in Pakistan as they had refused to toe the line of Musharraf regime by signing the governments new media code after the imposition of emergency on November 3.

A decision on whether to move out of Dubai will be taken by Monday, said Mr Iqbal, adding that options being considered were London and Singapore.

He said that the channel's signal was resumed after the network was asked to sign a letter promising to abide by TECOM regulations.

UNI