[Joining in the baldfaced lie] LAW: Two international observers killed and
one injured in Hebron
27 March 2002

[IMRA: For those who wonder if the LAW organization can be relied upon for
accurate material about the situation, they generously provided the
following baldfaced lie.]

On Tuesday evening, March 26, 2002, two international observers, from the
Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), were killed in Hebron,
another observer was injured. The victims were traveling in a TIPH marked
vehicle on bypass road 35, which is used by Israeli settlers and which
passes south west Halhoul on the northern outskirts of the West Bank town
of Hebron.

Information gathered by LAW reveals that on Tuesday evening at 8.10pm,
Israeli forces positioned on road 35 opened tank and machinegun fire on
Palestinian homes on the northern part of Hebron. The three observers,
who were wearing civilian clothes and who were not on duty, were
traveling in a TIPH marked car at the time of the shelling. The observers
came under fire as they crossed the Beit Kahil Bridge. Major Turtuq
Cengiz Toytunc (38) from Turkey and deputy head of operations and Katrine
Berruex (25), a Swiss citizen, were killed. The third, also from Turkey,
was injured and admitted to Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem. The bodies of
the two observers were taken to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron whose sources
stated that they were shot in the head.

Ib Knutsen, the spokesperson of TIPH, stated that joint investigations
with Israeli authorities were underway.

LAW expresses its deep sorrow for the killing and wounding of the
international observers and calls for an independent international
investigation committee to investigate the incident.
____________________________

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving
human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Federation Internationale
des Ligues de Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) and the World Organisation
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2-
5833317, email: law@lawsociety.org, web: http://www.lawsociety.org

+++
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