*ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:* Geo TV has been allowed back on the air at some majorcable operators after talks with the military on demands it make changes inpolitical coverage, according to two officials who work for the channel’smedia group.

After Geo TV was taken off the air across much of the country at the end ofMarch, military representatives pressed the channel to cease favorablecoverage of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and stop any criticism ofthe Supreme Court and the ‘establishment’, according to the two people, whohad knowledge of the negotiations.

Written instructions by Geo management to its staff last week spelled out“key editorial points that we have to manage and implement” to be restoredto the airwaves. Besides banning negative portrayals of the ‘establishment’and any allegations the Supreme Court might be interfering in politics, theinstructions said there should be no reports on Nawaz Sharif’s ongoingcorruption trial “that helps build a narrative that he and his children areinnocent.”

The two sources, employees of the Jang Group of Newspapers, said thecompany had reluctantly agreed to most of the military’s demands, althoughthere was no final deal confirmed and the situation was in flux. “As forthe deal or tough conditions, we are following them and Geo has beenrestored. That restoration is the result of obeying those dictations,” oneof the sources said.

Geo TV Network President Imran Aslam declined to answer questions about anymilitary involvement in the shutdown or whether any deal had been made orwas in the works. A Geo spokesperson said in a statement, “Geo will alwaysstrive to provide both sides of the story and an independent editorialpolicy for which it has suffered in every regime, military and civilian.Ifwe ever surrender on that independence we would rather shut down thechannel ourselves.”

The military’s press office did not respond to written questions and phonecalls about whether it had pressured the cable operators. It also did notcomment on the allegations that the military, or the Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI), made demands on Geo to alter its coverage or securedagreement to make any changes.

Three major cable operators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, earliersaid they had pulled the channel from their rosters after directinstructions from unidentified military officers.

When interviewed, three cable operators said they were pressured to takethe channel off the air at the end of March while others declined tocomment.

Five of the Geo insiders said they knew the widespread cable blackout was aresult of military pressure. However, only two were willing to talk aboutthe conditions laid out by military officials to Geo for restoring thechannels, and they said they were doing so against direct orders from thecompany’s owner.

One executive at a leading cable company that covers more than a millionhouseholds in Pakistan said he received a telephone call at the end ofMarch from a senior officer in the ISI telling him to take Geo TV off theirroster. There was never any question of refusing the order, he said.

A second cable executive said his company shut down Geo broadcasts afterreceiving a telephone call. Asked who made the call, he said, “I can’t saythe name, you know, big brother, the boots.”

The military has declined to comment on all the allegations made by thecable operators.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry criticized the move againstGeo. “It’s very unfortunate that behind many actions in Pakistan there arehidden hands, secret hands,” he said in response to a question about themilitary’s possible role in Geo’s trouble. He did not elaborate further.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority said in a statement thatit had not ordered any channel to be taken off air and that the “closure ofany licensed channel is against … its laws.”