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| Shireen Abu Aqla's killing drew outrage and condemnation around the world.There was widespread outrage when the 51-year-old Palestinian-American journalist - one of the region's most experienced and admired correspondents- was killed. (Photo by= EPA) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] Israeli forces - and not Palestinian militants - shot dead a high-profile Al Jazeera journalist, the UN's human rights office has concluded. A spokeswoman said the findings were the result of "independent monitoring" of the incident on 11 May, BBC reported.
The killing of Shireen Abu Aqla, who was reporting on an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank, caused widespread outrage. Palestinians have blamed Israel. Israel says blame cannot yet be determined. Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Friday, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the department had found that "the shots that killed Abu Aqla and injured her colleague Ali Sammoudi came from Israeli security forces and not from indiscriminate firing by armed Palestinians, as initially claimed by Israeli authorities". "It is deeply disturbing that Israeli authorities have not conducted a criminal investigation," she added. Ms. Shamdasani said the information had come from the Israeli military and the Palestinian attorney general. "One single bullet injured Ali Sammoudi in the shoulder; another single bullet hit Abu Aqla in the head and killed her instantly."
Meanwhile, Israel's army is carrying out its own investigation. Ms. Shamdasani said the OHCHR had "found no information suggesting that there was activity by armed Palestinians in the immediate vicinity of the journalists".
