November 21, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 15, 1423

AL KHALIL, Nov 20: Israeli border police kicked and beat a Reuters cameraman in the divided West Bank city of Al Khalil on Tuesday, witnesses said.

Mamoun Wazwaz, 27, was among a group of 13 Palestinian journalists leaving a Reuters colleague’s home after dinner there when three border police accosted them in a parking lot.

Wazwaz was knocked to the ground, and one of the policemen bashed him in the leg with an M-16 assault rifle, witnesses said. Wazwaz’s colleagues rushed him to a nearby hospital, where X-rays showed no broken bones and he was treated and released.

Journalists in the group, who were shoved against a wall and held at gunpoint, said the attack was unprovoked. They said a policeman held a gun to the head of one of their colleagues.

“Suddenly we heard shouting and they were beating Mamoud,” Reuters cameraman Nael Shyoukhi said. “We told them we were journalists and not to deal with us like criminals.”

Before leaving, the police told Wazwaz he was wanted for questioning by Israeli security services and ordered him to report to them later this month, his colleagues said.

The agency filed a letter of protest with the Israeli army and demanded an investigation. The army had no immediate comment.

The incident occurred near an Israeli military post in the Israeli-ruled part of Al Khalil.—Reuters