20 June 2004	Sunday	01 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

JERUSALEM, June 19: Three British MPs said on Saturday that Israeli troops had fired at them twice during a visit to the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah a day earlier, a spokesman for the British consulate said.

"The MPs said they were fired at (by Israeli troops) while inside a United Nations car in Rafah and also when they got out of the car," he said.

"They are still in the country and we will take this incident up with the Israeli authorities."

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli foreign ministry said the incident was being checked. "We were not aware that these British MPs were in Rafah because it wasn't officially coordinated through us," she said.

"We have spoken with the British embassy and are checking with the army what actually happened."

The consulate spokesman did not name the MPs, but a report on the BBC website identified them as Huw Irranca-Davies from the ruling Labour party, Crispin Blunt from the opposition Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Northover.

He said the Israeli authorities were well aware that the cross-party group was on a working visit to the area, which was the scene of a massive army offensive last month, during which more than 40 Palestinians were killed.-AFP