The PNA has closed the Ramallah office of Al Jazeera Broadcasting Station without official notice. According to Mr Walid Al Umari, an Al Jazeera reporter in Ramallah, a Palestinian Intelligence apparatus telephoned the office on Monday 19 March 2001 informing workers that “Al Jazeera made an offensive presentation of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat” The caller gave them two hours to rectify the matter, threatening that if they did not then the office would be closed.” Mr Al Umari said that ten minutes after the telephone call, three Palestinian Intelligence officers arrived and gave conclusive orders for the office to be closed. The office did not receive any official indictment, although this was requested. At noon the folowing day, Tuesday 20 March 2001, Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office received a telephone call from the President’s office, informing them that the office was to be closed due to offensive presentation of Yasser Arafat during a documentary on the Lebanese war. LAW regrets the PNA’s decision and furthermore confirms that it is a violation of the law, particularly Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the 1995 Palestinian Press and Copy Law, as well as of international standards and regulations pertaining to freedom of speech, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the 1966 International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights. LAW calls upon the PNA to: 1. Immediately reopen Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office 2. Cease violating the right to freedom of speech and adhere to human rights standards and the law 3. Allow the Palestinian Ministry of Information to conduct its legitimate role.