Ramallah, July 20 (DPA) The Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to lift its ban preventing the al-Jazeera satellite channel from working in the West Bank, but at the same time said it would go ahead with planned legal measures against the Qatari-based broadcaster.

'The decision to reopen the pan-Arab channel's offices in the West Bank was motivated by the Palestinian Authority's interest in the freedom of the press,' a statement issued Sunday by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's office in Ramallah said.

But, the statement added, hat the PA would not halt the legal procedures against al-Jazeera 'for its incitement against the PA and the Palestinian Liberation Organization'.

The PA shut the Ramallah office of al-Jazeera last Wednesday, amid a storm over allegations that that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conspired with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to assassinate late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.