The Pakistani authorities have allowed at least two private television channels to resume broadcasting, despite the state of emergency that remains in place.
As I reported last week, virtually all private electronic media was shut down when President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule.
The small change in policy came after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte arrived in Islamabad yesterday.
However, Pakistan’s largest private television network, Geo, is still having its transmissions from the United Arab Emirates blocked, after it refused to pledge that it would no longer criticize Musharraf. It has been broadcasting via satellite from UAE since emergency rule was imposed earlier this month.
Negroponte meets with Musharraf today. He is expected to call for the release of thousands of lawyers and political prisoners and an end to emergency rule as a pre-requisite for a fair election.