Israel rejects blame for death of cameraman

THE Israeli Defence Force says it does not admit responsibility for killing a Reuters TV cameraman who died in the Gaza Strip moments after he filmed a tank firing in his direction.

Fadel Shana, 23, was among 20 Palestinian militants and civilians - among them five children - killed in a surge of violence following the deaths of three Israeli soldiers in a gun-battle in the Gaza Strip on Wednes More..day.

Shana's colleagues at the scene said his clearly marked press vehicle was attacked again, about two minutes after the first missile struck it, driving back would-be rescuers and injuring several.

The incident came as journalists and ambulance crews were trying to cover the aftermath of an earlier Israeli air strike that killed three militants and at least six civilians near Gaza's border with Israel.

Shana had parked in a lane off Gaza's main north-south highway and was standing beside his Jeep to film a tank on a hill a kilometre away. Footage recovered from his camera captured the muzzle flash from the tank's main gun two seconds before the camera cuts out.

Colleagues passing by in an Agence France-Presse armoured car noticed the smoke from the burning vehicle and turned back to investigate. An AFP stills photographer, Mohammed Albaba, said they were approaching the burning Jeep when a second missile struck close to it, injuring the freelance photographer Ashraf Abu Amra and several others. Two civilian youths were killed by the first missile.

The popular Shana was one of many local photographers and cameramen hired by international news groups to cover the Israeli-Palestine conflict. "Ten minutes before I asked him for a lift in his car and he said no, I won't take you with me today. It's too dangerous," said a tearful Ashraf Abu Amra from his hospital bed.

A medical examination yesterday revealed that metal darts from a tank shell that explodes in the air killed Shana. X-rays showed several of the controversial weapons, known as flechettes, in his chest and legs. Several of the three-centimetre darts were also in his flak jacket and vehicle.

"The evidence from the medical examination underlines the importance of a swift, honest and impartial investigation by the Israel Defence Forces and by the Government," said David Schlesinger, the editor-in-chief of Reuters News.

An Israeli military official expressed sorrow but said the IDF did not accept responsibility for the killing. The official said that Israeli forces had only fired at armed militants who were shooting at them from close range. It did not know what kind of missile had struck the press vehicle, and it was unaware of reports of a second attack minutes later. The incident is being investigated, the official said.

Journalists had been drawn to the area to cover the aftermath of a bloody air-strike launched in support of Israeli armoured troops, who had crossed into Gaza in the wake of a Hamas ambush which killed three soldiers. Survivors said three militants died along with at least six others - a woman, two children and three members of a non-violent Islamic sect - when Israeli aerial missiles struck a mosque and houses in the hamlet of Johara a'diq, near Bureij in central Gaza.

■ The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday called for a Middle East peace conference in Moscow "as soon as possible", saying talks with Israel were moving too slowly. Mr Abbas was speaking during a visit to Moscow intended to lay the ground for the conference, which he has said could take place in June

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