2 Israeli Police Officers to Be Tried in Slaying of Arab

Two border policemen were suspended Sunday and ordered to stand trial for fatally shooting a Palestinian teen-ager without first firing warning shots and then allegedly lying about the incident.

They were accused of giving a false account after military officers viewed ABC-TV videotape of the shooting, an army spokesman said.

The border policemen, members of a paramilitary unit that works with army troops in the territories, were suspended by Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai, head of the army’s Central Command, and Inspector Gen. Meshulam Amit, the border police commander.

The victim, 18-year-old Fadi Zabakli of Bethlehem, was shot in the head during a demonstration Dec. 28 and died Jan. 7. The army initially said Zabakli and fellow Palestinians carried axes and ignored warning shots and orders to halt.

Troops are required to shout a warning and fire in the air before aiming at a suspect’s legs.

Mordechai ordered a probe after ABC-TV reported that the youths were not armed and that no warning shots were fired. The videotape was aired Saturday on Israel Television.

The names of the two men charged were not made public.

Meanwhile, a military court demoted Israeli Lt. David Lior to the rank of sergeant and sentenced him to 45 days in jail for mistreating a Palestinian prisoner, army radio said.

According to the radio, Lior kicked and beat a Palestinian after the suspect cursed him in a jeep en route to the lockup. The Palestinian was apprehended for throwing stones.

Also Sunday, Italy’s ambassador to Israel, Alberto Bartoli, filed a protest on behalf of the European Community with the Israeli Foreign Ministry over police handling of peace rallies in Jerusalem last month.

More than 50 people were injured Dec. 30 when police charged a section of the crowd that had gathered to form a “human chain” for peace around Jerusalem’s Old City. Many were Italian and other European activists.

In the occupied areas, a Palestinian died of gunshot wounds suffered in a clash between masked Arabs and Israeli soldiers three weeks ago in the Gaza Strip, the army said.

The victim was identified as Abdullah Rekhawi, 42, of the Rafah refugee camp. Two other Palestinians were killed in the clash.

After Rekhawi’s funeral, Palestinians blocked roads with stone barricades and burned tires, Arab reports said.