MANAMA - Bahraini authorities have banned Al-Jazeera television, based in the adjacent state of Qatar, from operating in the kingdom for "violating" professional norms, the state BNA news agency said Wednesday.

The ministry of culture and information "has decided to temporarily freeze the operations of the office of the Qatari satellite channel Al-Jazeera," BNA said quoting a ministry statement issued late on Tuesday.

It said the measure was in response to Al-Jazeera's "violation of professional norms and not abiding by the laws and rules that regulate press and publishing."

The ministry did not elaborate on the violations that triggered the ban.

A statement from Al-Jazeera condemned the ban, which it said it had not been formally notified of. It added that it did not have a bureau in Bahrain.

"Al-Jazeera is sorry to hear of such decision," it said, adding that Bahraini authorities had also banned a team from its Al-Jazeera English channel from entering Manama on Tuesday for an interview with a UN official.

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