LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two Pakistani television networks that transmit from Dubai in United Arab Emirates were ordered off the air Friday at the request of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, officials from the networks said.Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been under pressure to lift a state of emergency.
GEO-TV and ARY Digital offer a variety of programming, including news, entertainment, sports and music.
Both networks had been banned from Pakistan's cable television system -- along with other networks, including CNN and BBC -- since Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3.
This latest action prevents the two Pakistani networks from broadcasting worldwide via satellite.
"This was basically our window to the world, GEO President Imran Aslan said. "In Pakistan, we've been shut down since the 3rd."
The action was not wholly unexpected, but surprising nevertheless, Aslan said.
"We uplink from Dubai, never having had a license to uplink from Pakistan," he said. "Dubai is a media city which seemed to be a haven and a sanctuary."
Aslan said network officials have been in discussions with Pakistani government officials and "it seemed very obvious that they were going to do this. We were ready for it to a certain extent."
"Eventually they decided to put their feet on the pipe, as it were."
The government has made numerous demands of the network, although none of them official, Aslan said.
"It's done through intermediaries," he said. "[Dulling] down the content, not having certain anchors, some of the hosts of our programs and talk shows."
Musharraf's emergency order put several restrictions on the media, preventing journalists from expressing opinions prejudicial to "the ideology ... or integrity of Pakistan."
Journalists are also restricted from covering suicide bombings and militant activity and could face three-year jail terms if they "ridicule" members of the government or armed forces.
Almost a dozen journalists have been arrested.
Musharraf has denied that his restrictions bar criticism, saying they only ask for responsibility in reporting.
But last week, Pakistan expelled three print journalists for using language in an editorial that a Pakistani official called offensive to Musharraf.
The editorial criticized Musharraf, and the United States and Britain for continuing to support him.
While many Pakistani journalists have protested the restrictions, some smaller television channels have complied with the government's restrictions.
GEO and ARY have refused.
"It seems most of the other channels have kowtowed in order to survive," Aslan said.
Musharraf has said the emergency order improves stability and will foster peaceful parliamentary elections, which he has said he would like to see take place before January 9.
The exact date will be set by Pakistan's Election Commission.
Opposition leaders have accused Musharraf of declaring emergency rule to keep his hold on power and avoid an expected court ruling that would have nullified his election victory in October.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/16/pakistan.tv/?iref=mpstoryview
Reuters
Pakistan's private Geo TV says forced to shut down
Sat Nov 17, 2007 KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan's private Geo television network, ordered off air during President Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule, said on Saturday it had been forced to close down altogether after it was ordered to halt transmissions via the United Arab Emirates.
Geo, Pakistan's biggest television network, has offices and studios in Dubai Media City, from where it broadcasts news.
"We have been told by the (Dubai) Media City that our transmission will be shut down," Imran Aslam, president of Geo News, told Reuters. "This is all I can say at the moment."
No one at Dubai Media City was immediately available for comment.
Local and international television channels disappeared from cable television in Pakistan amid media curbs imposed by military ruler Musharraf on Nov. 3, which ban reporting which humiliates the presidency, military or government.
Some channels have since resumed broadcasts, but Geo has refused to agree to a new government media code.
The television network has challenged the government's curbs in the High Court in Sindh province. The next hearing is due on Nov. 20.
The media have flourished since Musharraf seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup, but the feisty private media that grew up during his rule have been highly critical of him since he tried to sack the country's chief justice in March.
Musharraf has accused some television channels of adding to the uncertainty that led him to impose emergency rule -- which critics say was solely aimed at trying to hold on to power.
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-30546820071116
The Times of India
Private channels forced to shut down in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's private Geo and Ary News channels on Saturday shut down due to "pressure from the Pakistan government".
Both channels carried flashes saying they were shutting down due to pressure mounted by the Pakistan government on foreign country they were operating from. They did not give details.
Both channels had shifted their operations to Dubai following curbs imposed on media by President Pervez Musharraf after the imposition of Emergency.
All Pakistani and foreign private news channels were taken off the airways soon after the Emergency was imposed on November 3.
Most of them were allowed to resume broadcasting on cable TV networks on Thursday after they agreed to adhere to guidelines laid down by the government. But Geo and Ary news channels remained off the air.
Since the imposition of Emergency, Geo had emerged as a key source of information through its broadcast via satellite and on the Internet.
An announcer on Geo said the Pakistan government had succeeded in pressuring foreign authorities to stop the channels, satellite broadcasts from abroad.
Among Geo's best known anchors ware Hamid Mir and Shahid Masood, who hosted current affairs programmes and were critical of the military regime and the Emergency.
The channel had recently rejected the government's demand that they should be removed.
In March, police had attacked Geo's office in Islamabad after authorities were apparently irked by its coverage of the confrontation between lawyers and the government over Musharraf's attempt to sack former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2547566,prtpage-1.cms
NDTV
Geo TV silenced in Dubai
New Delhi: Freedom of press is an obsolete concept at least in Pakistan.
Shortly after President Musharraf imposed emergency in the country, all TV channels that challenged his decision in any way or refused to cow down have been under fire.
The latest casualty is private run Geo TV, which has been forced to shut down by the UAE government under pressure from Pakistan.
''This was not unexpected but we were surprised they managed to shut us down in Dubai, which is where we had our up-link (satellite) facilities and this is the bi-media city which guarantees a great deal of freedom and I am certainly surprised because this will obviously have an impact on investment opportunities, for instance in Dubai,'' said Imran Aslam, President, Geo Network.
All Pakistani and foreign private news channels were taken off the airways soon after the emergency was imposed on November 3.
Most channels were allowed to resume broadcasting on cable TV networks after they agreed to obey the guidelines laid down by the government.
But Geo and Ary news channels remained off air.
Geo TV was an Urdu channel that was established in May 2002 and officially began transmission in October 2002.
It has been rated as the third most watched channel in Pakistan by Gallup.
Geo News had earlier shifted its main operations to Dubai in 2005 after restrictions were imposed on the media by President Pervez Musharraf.
The police had attacked Geo's office in Islamabad after authorities were apparently unhappy with the coverage of the confrontation between lawyers and the government over Musharraf's sacking of Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry in March.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070033088&ch=11/17/2007%208:29:00%20AM#
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Two Pakistani news networks are shut down in Dubai
New York, November 16, 2007 "The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly alarmed that news channels on the Pakistani networks GEO TV and ARY Digital were ordered by authorities to halt transmission today from the United Arab Emirates after refusing to sign a Pakistani government-mandated "code of conduct."
GEO TV was ordered by the UAE Information Ministry in Dubai to cease satellite and Internet broadcasts by midnight local time on Friday, according to Sami Abraham, senior correspondent and producer of GEO TV in New York. ARY Digital received a similar order with no reason given for the shut down, according to ARY news director Mohsin Raza.
"We are surprised that the authorities in Dubai, which is developing as a regional free trade and communications hub, would prevent such satellite transmissions," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "We call on Pakistani and UAE authorities to reverse this order immediately and allow private TV networks to report on the important developments taking place in Pakistan without being subject to stifling official restrictions."
GEO TV and ARY Digital were the only networks that had not returned to cable distribution in Pakistan since the shut down of all private broadcasters on November 3 after President Pervez Musharraf suspended the country's constitution. The news channels had remained accessible in Pakistan via Internet or satellite before today's blackout.
Networks had been told to sign the 14-page code of conduct by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority if they wanted to resume transmission in the wake of recent political turmoil in Pakistan. GEO TV and ARY Digital refused to sign. The agreement bypasses due process if stations violate government regulations.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2007/asia/pak16nov07na.html
AP
US envoy visiting Pakistan talks to Bhutto ahead of meeting Musharraf
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Washington's No. 2 diplomat was due for an all-important sitdown with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Saturday after talking by phone overnight with one of the his chief rivals, hoping that face-to-face diplomacy would convince the general to move back on the path to democracy. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John
Negroponte's trip was seen as a last best chance to avoid political turmoil in Pakistan, which has seen its Supreme Court purged and thousands of protesters detained since Musharraf declared emergency rule on Nov. 3.
Negroponte phoned opposition leader Benazir Bhutto overnight, the U.S. State Department said, in the highest-level U.S. contact with the Pakistani opposition leader since the emergency began.
The conversation came just hours after Bhutto was released from house arrest, one of a number of face-saving measures the government took ahead of the senior American diplomat's arrival. A prominent human rights activist was also released, and several opposition television news stations were allowed back on the air. But there were also some ominous signs, with two major independent television news stations _ Geo and ARY _ which transmit from nearby Dubai, deciding to take their broadcasts off the air in response to what they said was pressure from Musharraf on the Dubai government to shut them down.
GEO news broadcast a continuous video of a thunderstorm at sea, with its logo floating on the choppy waves. It said in a statement that it had made the decision after receiving word that «the government of Pakistan is using its influence with a foreign country to get the Geo TV network closed down.
Pakistan's government did not immediately comment on the allegations.Bhutto and Musharraf had been negotiating a power-sharing arrangement, but talks apparently collapsed as the general moved against the opposition following his decision to suspend the constitution.
Negroponte «wanted to hear from her how she viewed the political situation in Pakistan,» U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of the call to Bhutto, who has been increasingly strident in her demands that Musharraf resign.
She has proposed that the opposition come together in a unity front, which could serve as a transition government ahead of elections if Musharraf can be convinced to step down. The general, who until recently had been considered a vital U.S. ally and a bulwark in the war against terrorism, has steadfastly refused.
In recent interviews, he has expressed exasperation with the mounting pressure from the West since he declared the emergency. Musharraf has also come under fire for his military's recent losses in fighting with pro-Taliban militants in Swat, where fighting has raged since July.
The army announced Saturday that it had killed up to 40 militants, bringing to more than 100 the number who have died in recent days. A militant spokesman said the government's figures are greatly exaggerated, but acknowledged suffering some casualties.
Forces loyal to a rebel cleric _ Maulana Fazlullah _ have captured several villages, police stations and government building.
Negroponte and Musharraf are expected to speak Saturday, McCormack said, although no time was given and the meeting was not expected to be open to the media. He was also expected to meet with several other political and military leaders here, underscoring Washington's desire to reach out to a wide array of Pakistani decision-makers.
In his discussion with Bhutto, Negroponte underscored Washington's opposition to Musharraf's extraconstitutional actions and its desire to see her and other opposition figures free to peacefully participate in Pakistan's political sphere, McCormack said. Negroponte came to Islamabad to press Musharraf and his government to quickly end the state of emergency, set a date for free and fair legislative elections in January and release opposition leaders. The U.S. also wants Musharraf to give up his position as army chief.
Negroponte arrived Friday from a stop in Africa, where he said that the democratic process in Pakistan had been «derailed.«Our message is that we want to work with the government and people of Pakistan and the political actors in Pakistan to put the political process back on track as soon as possible,» Negroponte said.
Musharraf is pressing ahead with disputed plans for January elections, swearing in an interim government led by a loyalist charged with preparing Pakistan for the vote, and defending his record during the eight years since he seized power in a coup. Opposition parties as well as the U.S. and Britain say the ballot cannot be fair unless the restrictions are lifted.
Demonstrations continued Friday in defiance of a ban on political gatherings.Bhutto was freed Friday from house arrest imposed three days earlier to stop her from leading anti-Musharraf protests. She immediately reiterated her call for Musharraf to quit power, and said his sidelining of moderate opponents had allowed the rise of Islamic extremism.
On Friday, Musharraf swore in an interim government headed by a loyalist former Senate chairman. Parliament was dissolved Thursday after completing its five-year term. The caretakers will manage the country until elections due by Jan. 9.
http://www.pr-inside.com/us-envoy-visiting-pakistan-talks-to-r305829.htm
khaleejtimes
Geo TV pulled off air
By a staff reporter
DUABI â€" A Dubai-based Pakistani TV channel has been asked to shut down its operation, an official of the news channel said yesterday.
The Urdu-language news channel, Geo, was to shut down by midnight yesterday, the official said.
Most of the private news and other channels in Pakistan were pulled off air after the imposition of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf on November 3.
