BBC Monitoring

Text of report in English by Dubai newspaper Gulf News website on 25 November

Pakistan's most popular private satellite channel Geo Television Network is to move its base from Dubai to Hong Kong, Gulf News has learnt.

"We are making arrangements to air the transmission from Hong Kong because we are losing around half a million dollars every day since the Dubai Media City [DMC] blocked satellite signals for our news channel on November 17," said Imran Mir, Station Head of Geo Television Network in Dubai.

He said the top management of Geo is in touch with the DMC, which has put in place some new conditions before allowing them to resume broadcasting.

The DMC had blocked the satellite signals for two popular Pakistani news channels, Geo and ARY, saying the decision was in line with the UAE's policy of neutrality and non-interference.

However, the DMC officials were not available to comment on the latest situation.

The ARY network was allowed to resume its regular news transmission on Thursday after the channel sign! ed a letter promising to abide by TECOM regulations.

However, Salman Iqbal, chief executive officer of ARY, also said that ARY was also considering moving its base out of Dubai after new conditions were put in place.

Source: Gulf News website, Dubai, in English 25 Nov 07