PA ACCUSES AL JAZEERA OF INCITEMENT, SUSPENDING ITS

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001223

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA FRONT OFFICE, NEA/IPA, AND NEA/PPD
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PROP PHUM KPAL KWBG KPAO
SUBJECT: PA ACCUSES AL JAZEERA OF INCITEMENT, SUSPENDING ITS
LICENSE AND CLOSING ITS OFFICES


1. Summary: The Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended Al Jazeera's
license and closed its West Bank offices on July 15. PA officials
accused the Qatar-based satellite news channel of systematic
incitement and unbalanced coverage after it broadcast inflammatory
allegations by Fatah Central Committee member-in-exile Farouq al
Qaddoumi against PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Fatah
Revolutionary Committee member Mohammad Dahlan. End Summary.


2. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, in his capacity as Minister of
Information, signed orders on July 15 closing Al Jazeera's Ramallah
offices and suspending the license granted Al Jazeera by the PA.
This was in response to the news channel's coverage of allegations
made by Qaddoumi that Abu Mazen and Dahlan conspired with Israel and
the USG to assassinate former PA President Yasser Arafat. This, in
the PA's view, constituted systematic incitement and unbalanced
coverage.


3. PA plainclothes security officers handed a closure order to
staff in Al Jazeera's Ramallah office, shutting down West Bank
operations of the news channel's Arabic and English services. (Al
Jazeera's offices in Gaza and Jerusalem are unaffected by the PA's
decision, since they do not fall under PA jurisdiction.) Prime
Minister Fayyad ordered PA Attorney General Ahmad al Mughani to file
a lawsuit against Al Jazeera on charges of incitement and reporting
false information. Al Jazeera's Ramallah offices will remain closed
and the license suspended until the court rules on the case.


4. The newly designated director of the PA Information Office,
Ghassan al Khatib, criticized the PA's decision in statements to the
press on July 15. He called the decision "hasty and irrational,"
and expressed hope that Al Jazeera's offices would reopen soon.


5. The PA Journalists' Union issued a statement calling on the PA
to allow Al Jazeera's offices to reopen, demanding that the PA
respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech. That said, the
Union's statement also emphasized that Palestinian media must
refrain from publishing material that might inflame the political
situation. The local Foreign Press Association likewise expressed
deep concern and urged the PA to reconsider its decision.


6. Hamas denounced the PA's decision and requested a "serious"
investigation into Qaddoumi's allegations. Qaddoumi repeated them
during a July 15 evening interview on Al Jazeera. He predicted he
would be excluded from the Fatah Sixth Party Congress, due to take
place in Bethlehem on August 4.


7. Note: The PA suspended the license of Al Jazeera in 2000 on
similar grounds after the channel broadcast a doctored photo of
Yasser Arafat with a shoe over his head. End note.

WALLES