DUBAI, Nov 17: Media authorities in Dubai said on Saturday they were considering whether to allow two leading private Pakistani news channels to resume broadcasting after shutting them down the day before.

“We are in contact with them... to see if there is a possibility to (allow them to) resume” broadcasting, Amina Rustamani, head of Dubai’s media watchdog told AFP.

The two networks, Geo and ARYOne, said on Saturday they were shut down on Friday night amid pressure from Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Geo and ARYOne had been blacked out on cable in Pakistan since November 3, when Gen Musharraf imposed a state of emergency, but had still been available on satellite and the Internet until Friday night when they were fully closed.

Both channels said the Pakistani government had been pushing them to stop showing their political talk shows.

Mr Rustamani said the channels had long been operating out of Dubai Media City, a free zone where scores of regional and international news organisations are based.—AFP