Ramallah (West Bank): Palestinian authorities on Sunday allowed Al-Jazeera to resume operations in the West Bank, four days after banning the Arab satellite station over the airing of a claim linking President Mahmoud Abbas to the death of his legendary predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
Correspondent Walid al-Omari said he received a phone call from Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad informing him of the decision, and the station`s staff resumed covering the news in the West Bank today morning.
But Al-Omari said Fayyad told him his government would still press ahead with a lawsuit against the Qatar-based station for alleged incitement.
Last week, an Al-Jazeera talk show hosted an exiled official in Abbas` Fatah movement who alleged the Palestinian leader played a role in the death of Arafat in 2004.
The official, Farouk Kaddoumi, a longtime rival of Abbas, did not present evidence. The incident exacerbated existing tensions between the station and Abbas` Palestinian government, which has long complained that Al-Jazeera sides
with its political rivals, the Islamic militants of Hamas.
On Wednesday, the day of the decision, Al-Jazeera employees were seen frantically piling files into black garbage bags and carrying them out with video cameras,
computers and other equipment before Palestinian security officials closed the office.
Bureau Report
