Palestinian 'beaten to death'

2005-12-16 14:22

Bethlehem - A Palestinian from a village near Jerusalem died on Friday after being beaten by Israeli border police, his family said.

Israel however, denied any involvement in his death, saying he had been thrown off his mule.

Mahmud Ali Shawawreh, 44, was working his field in Numaan village south of Jerusalem when a border police patrol asked him to follow them to an unnamed location far from his land, his family and witnesses said.

The field is located near the Jewish settlement suburb of Har Homa in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem.

Shawawreh was found unconscious, his body covered with bruises and his head bleeding, and he died in hospital on Friday.

The border police said they had nothing to do with the incident, army radio reported.

Border police claim the man tied himself to his mule, but that the animal went crazy, threw him off then dragged him along the ground, critically injuring him, it said.

The family's lawyer Labib Habib told the radio the border police version of events was "absurd" and vowed to take the matter to court.

"It is not possible that a man simply ties himself to his mule. The fact he was arrested that morning, and on the same day this tragic incident occurred, raises a lot of questions," he said.

"It is like something out of the Wild West."

- AFP