The Palestinian Authority has closed the office of the Al-Jazeera television network on the West Bank. The Arabic broadcaster has also been stopped from making news reports in the Palestinian territory.

The Palestinian Authority says the broadcaster has been conducting a smear campaign against its President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Last Tuesday, an Al-Jazeera news report accused Mr Abbas of conspiring with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and the Israeli secret service to poison PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 2004.

Mr Arafat died that same year in Paris, after being confined to his headquarters in Ramallah by the Israeli army for several months. The exact cause of his death has remained a secret to this day. Doctors who examined his body said they had found no traces of poison.

Although Al-Jazeera says it is baffled by the ban, it has been warned on previous occasions by the Palestinians about its alleged anti-Palestinian broadcasts.

Photo of Al-Jazeera logo by Joi (flickr)