Al-Jazeera satellite TV now feeds a hungry Arab world, one starved for so long that even this carefully-controlled Qatari-financed TV news and pictures source has met with considerable success. Al-Jazeera is hardly really independent though, and certainly not fully trustworthy -- it's just better and more novel at the moment than what the other Arab regimes have set up. There are many instances we are aware of where al-Jazeera shied away from truly telling it like it really is, especially regarding what the U.S. and sponsored Arab regimes are up to, and especially in that regard what is really going on here in Washington behind the scenes. Among other instances, al-Jazeera has in the past asked to interview the publisher of MER, but then refused to either have the interview live (as is the usual in Washington for such interviews), or alternatively to have the interview for a set time and uncensored, or alternatively to even assure that the identification of MER would be shown on screen. Additionally al-Jazeera has instructed others knowledgeable about the Washington scene that certain crucial subjects -- including aspects of U.S.-Saudi relations and the role of Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar in Washington -- are taboo and cannot be broadcast.

This said, Arafat and crowd are hardly acting on their own by closing al-Jazeera; they are doing so on behalf of the Israelis and the Arab "client regimes" who don't such constant close-up pictures of the Intifada viewed throughout the Arabic-speaking world and do want to try to rein in al-Jazeera even further.

The same is true with the recent much-publicized Palestinian efforts to turn the Intifada in "non-violent" directions -- that too originates with the Israelis and the Americans who continue to twist Arafat to bring it about, even though there are thoughtful Palestinians who support such a turn for reasons of their own.

DOHA, March 21 (AFP) - The Qatar-based satellite television channel al-Jazeera said Wednesday that armed Palestinian security forces shut down its bureau in the West Bank town of Ramallah, denouncing the Palestinian Authority's resort to force.

"Al-Jazeera was deeply shocked to see armed agents of the Palestinian security entering its offices in Ramallah and under threat of arms ordering its employees to stop working," the channel said in a statement.

The action had no legal basis, the statement added.

"We have learnt from these employees that the Palestinian Authority was unhappy with the trailer for a documentary on the Lebanese war broadcast by the channel," the statement added.

Their action sought "to change the tone of a television program by resorting to force, something all free media reject," the station said.

Al-Jazeera said it hoped the shutdown of the office would be temporary, "to allow us to resume our mission as our viewers want."

The statement added: "Al-Jazeera will never under any circumstance stop covering the Palestinian cause."

It would continue covering the story either from its Ramallah office or from elsewhere, it said.

Witnesses in Ramallah earlier told AFP that the Palestinian Authority had closed down the bureau and that police were deployed at the entrance of the office building.

On Tuesday, Palestinian police told the al-Jazeera staff to leave, without giving reasons.

Al-Jazeera, founded in 1996 shortly after Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani took power, has become immensely popular in the Arab world for its frank coverage of social and political issues.

[The Independent Digital, UK - 23 March 2001] Palestinian leaders asked Yasser Arafat yesterday to reopen the local office of an Arab satellite TV station, which was shut down after broadcasting an unflattering image of the Palestinian leader.

Mr Arafat has frequently moved against the media to squash dissent, but overzealous security chiefs were blamed for the closure of Al-Jazeera, which is based in Qatar but has an office in Ramallah.

Critics said the closure of the office was a heavy-handed mistake, silencing an office that has helped rally Arab support for the Palestinian cause with its intensive coverage of the Palestinian uprising against Israel in the past six months.

"In addition to freedom of speech issues, there is the practical issue of this [closure] backfiring," said the Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. "This deprives us of a platform and hurts our image."

Leaders of several Palestinian factions appealed to Mr Arafat yesterday to reopen the office. Ms Ashrawi, who also attended the meeting, said Mr Arafat told the group that he would consider the request.

However, Palestinian security officials demanded that AlJazeera first apologise to Mr Arafat for broadcasting a trailer for a documentary on the 1975-90 civil war in Lebanon that included a demonstrator holding shoes over a picture of Mr Arafat in a sign of contempt. Mr Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation were based in Lebanon for part of the war. The offending broadcasts come from the station's headquarters in Qatar, and the Ramallah office was not involved.

"Al-Jazeera did not respect the rules we set for journalists in the Palestinian areas," said Mohammed Dahlan, a security chief in the Gaza Strip. "They did not respect the Palestinian Authority or President Arafat."

The station has irked many Arab states with its critical reporting of controversial issues. In addition, Arab leaders cannot control Al-Jazeera the way they can with their local media. Libya, Tunisia and Morocco recalled their envoys from Qatar in protest at broadcasts. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain banned its correspondents.

Since Mr Arafat established his self-rule government in 1994, he has repeatedly closed local TV and radio stations and has ordered the arrest of several newspaper editors.AP