RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian government today suspended the West Bank operations of the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera, a day after a guest on the station accused the Palestinian president of playing a role in Yasser Arafat’s death.
The guest, Farouk Kaddoumi, said on a talk show Tuesday — without presenting any evidence — that President Mahmoud Abbas had played a role in the 2004 death of Arafat, the revered founder of the Palestinian national movement.
In a statement announcing the suspension, the Information Ministry did not mention Kaddoumi’s comments, only accusing the popular Arab satellite TV station of incitement and unbalanced reporting from the Palestinian territories.
The statement added that the ministry took particular issue with an Al-Jazeera broadcast on Tuesday, without elaborating.
The ministry is suing Al-Jazeera, and the station’s operations are suspended until the court has ruled.
The station’s employees in Ramallah were seen piling files into black garbage bags and carrying them out with cameras, computers and other equipment before Palestinian security officials arrived to close the office.
The closure affected both the English and Arabic services of the channel.
Walid Al Omary, Al-Jazeera’s bureau chief in Jerusalem, denied the accusations.
“We are sorry about this decision, which we consider a violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the press in this country,” he said.
Abbas’ aides have long alleged that the Qatar-based station, widely watched in the Palestinian territories, has been siding with the Islamic militant Hamas in the bitter Palestinian power struggle.
Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007, ousting forces loyal to Abbas and leaving the president in control only of the West Bank. Since then, Abbas has increasingly clamped down on Hamas.
Still, going after the popular Al-Jazeera could be a politically risky step.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused the West Bank government of trying to silence the media and “cover up what is going on in the West Bank,” a reference to Abbas’ crackdown.
In Gaza, Hamas has carried out similar arrest raids and shut down Abbas-linked media outlets.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents international media operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories, said it was “deeply concerned” about the closure.
It urged the Palestinian Authority to resolve the issue and uphold freedom of the press.
The network’s Arabic and English channels are bankrolled by the ruling family of the energy-rich Arab emirate in the Persian Gulf that also hosts the U.S. military’s Mideast headquarters.
The Arabic-language station was often the target of criticism by former President George W. Bush’s administration, which called it biased against the U.S. But it also has been targeted by many governments in the Arab world for its often-critical coverage of the region.
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