Peshawar, May 6 : The PPP-PML-N coalition government has reportedly lifted sanctions on broadcast of BBC news bulletins and allowed private FM radio channels to relay them without prior vetting.

A BBC press release confirmed this here last evening.

“We welcome the Pakistan government’s commitment to allowing free flow of information. We know our partner stations and listeners have valued the BBC’s impartial and editorially independent news and information,” the Daily Times quoted BBC Urdu chief Muhammad Hanif as saying.

Shortly after addressing SAFMA in Islamabad, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told BBC, “there should be no restrictions on by PEMRA”.

The previous regime had stopped FM channels from broadcasting BBC bulletins following the imposition of emergency, after which the BBC had agreed to allow PEMRA to listen to its BBC Urdu news bulletins 15 minutes before broadcast. (ANI)