Outrage over death of handcuffed suspect

PICTURES of Israeli police killing a bound captive on a Jerusalem street are evoking outrage among Palestinians, but the police yesterday defended the shooting, saying it was necessary to prevent him from detonating an explosive device.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians as they expanded their offensives in the occupied territories and rounded up 400 Palestinians in the town of Qalqilya, which troops invaded yesterday, and close to 600 in the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem.

The pictures of the killing on Friday of Mahmoud Salah, a member of the al-Aqsa militia belonging to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, were published on the front pages of Palestinian newspapers. Al-Aqsa said it had dispatched him on a suicide bombing mission.

The pictures, taken by the resident of a nearby flat, show police arresting Mr Salah, who came from Nablus, and then pushing him on to the ground.

Another picture shows him being pinned down and having a gun pointed at him by forces after having been stripped to his underwear. Yet another shows him lying head down in his own blood, his hands bound behind his back.