Turkish Capt. Huseyin Ozaslah describes Palestinian murder of his comrades

Aaron Lerner Date: 26 March 2002

Turkish Capt. Huseyin Ozaslah, a member of the Temporary International
Presence in Hebron (TIPH) observers team attacked tonight, was interviewed
on the telephone by Israel Radio on the way to the hospital in English.

The following is a transcript prepared by IMRA:

Ozalslah: There were three people and we were driving in an Opel Corsa. I
was sitting in the back seat and one colleague was driving and one female
colleague was sitting in the front seat and we were just getting out of
Hebron. Then we heard some shooting towards our car. We were very fast -
90 kilometers per hour - and this Palestinian was just standing in the
middle of this road.

Reporter: Could you see him?

Ozalslah: Yes. Yes. The lights were on and we saw him. He was in a PPF
uniform, a Palestinian Police Force uniform. He was carrying a Kalashnikov
and we shouted towards him that "we are from the TIPH - don't shoot at us".
We could hardly stop the car. There were only 5 or 6 meters from the man
and our car. And he didn't stop.

Reporter: You told him that you were from TIPH and he continued to shoot?

Ozalslah: Yes. We told him that we were from TIPH and he didn't care. He
kept shooting towards us. My colleagues sitting in the front seat were shot
dead. The driver's blood splashed on my face and I was also injured. He
finished his magazine and he didn't check if all of us were dead or not and
he escaped.

But I saw him. That he had a Palestinian police force uniform and was
carrying a Kalashnikov and he finished his whole magazine - thirty bullets
at least. He was about 30 years old.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-5480092
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-610666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il