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| Middle East |
| Gunbattle outside Old City |
| 2002-07-09 |
| A Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli police officers just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem on Tuesday, wounding one, and a passerby was killed in the ensuing gunbattle. The shooting came just before a second round of high-level meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials aimed at easing tensions after 21 months of violent conflict. Naturally. That's why it came... The Jerusalem shooting occurred when a policeman spotted a Palestinian man who looked suspicious close to Herod's Gate, which leads into the Old City, and tried to check him. The gunman drew a pistol and shot the policeman. The passerby, who police described as an Arab, was shot and killed in the fire. Earlier police said it was the gunman's fire that killed the passerby, but police then said they weren't sure since officers also fired shots, trying to stop the fleeing gunman. A man's body, covered in black plastic, was seen under a tree. Police erected road barricades, vacated the area and launched a search for the gunman, and a suspect was arrested about an hour later. This guy will probably turn out to be Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Every time there's a move toward lessening tensions they have to kill somebody. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |