Pak TV channels may move out of Dubai

Pakistan' ARY television network, which was forced to go off air by Emirates 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 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 United Arab Emirates' 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, the daily reported.

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 government's 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 Iqbal, adding that options being considered were London and Singapore.