October 4, 2002	Friday	Rajab 26, 1423

PARIS, Oct 3: International journalists’ rights organisation Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has condemned the confiscation of a Reuters journalist’s film by Israeli soldiers. RSF says that the seizure of the film is nothing less than an attempt to cover up evidence about clashes with Palestinian demonstrators. It is calling for the confiscated videotape to be returned to Reuters at once.

“This incident shows the general attitude of Israeli troops, who have disobeyed the rules set by their superiors,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to Chief of Staff Moshe Yahalon. “We would be very shocked if we were now told that once again, as in the past, that the cassette has been ‘lost’ and so cannot be returned.”

At the end of a day of clashes in Nablus on Sept 30, Israeli troops seized the film from Reuters cameraman Hassan Titi, who had gone to a checkpoint on the outskirts of the West Bank city.