In another regional blow to press freedom, the Palestinian Authority has shuttered the Al Jazeera office in the West Bank and accused the network of broadcasting false information about the Palestinian issue.

The move came after Al Jazeera gave prominent play to a provocative allegation from a Fatah leader that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had conspired with Israel to kill Yasser Arafat and other high-profile Palestinian leaders.

 "Despite our repeated calls to remain neutral when it covers the Palestinian issue and to be balanced when it comes to the internal Palestinian situation, the channel continues to incite against the PLO and the PA," the PA said in a statement about the decision to close the local Al Jazeera office.

The move has drawn a protest from the local Foreign Press Association, which called on the PA to support freedom of the press in the West Bank.

The closure comes as Abbas and his battered Fatah party are preparing to host their first party conference in two decades so the fractured organization can choose new leaders.

The conference is set to take place in about three weeks in Bethlehem, and the event is likely to expose longstanding frustrations among the young Fatah leaders who feel that the aging Abbas and his allies have led the party into a ditch.

Al Jazeera said that it was "stunned" by the decision to shut its offices.

"Al Jazeera believes that it has maintained strict professional journalistic standards and acted in accordance with its Code of Ethics in its coverage, and that the Palestinian Authority's reaction reflects a repression of the freedom of media and a refusal to tolerate the opinions of others," the network said.