By: (AP) An Israeli army internal investigation into the March shooting of an Italian photographer in the West Bank town of Ramallah cleared soldiers of responsibility, the army said Friday.
Raffaele Ciriello, 42, who worked for the Italian daily newspaper
Corriere della Sera, was shot and killed March 13 while following Palestinian gunmen near Manara Square.
Amadeo Ricucci, a journalist who was nearby at the time, said a tank appeared from around a corner and opened fire from a mounted machine gun when it was about 150 yards away, hitting Ciriello in the stomach. Ciriello was not wearing a bulletproof vest or signs clearly identifying himself as a journalist.
At the time, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres expressed sorrow and conveyed condolences to Ciriello's family, but Israel never took responsibility for his death.
In Friday's statement, the army said the results of its investigation found "no evidence and no knowledge of an (army) force that fired in the direction of the photographer."
Israel had declared Ramallah a "closed military zone" at the time and was limiting journalists' access, although many were in the area anyway. "Journalists entering zones where fire is exchanged are jeopardizing themselves knowingly and at their own responsibility," the statement said.
Ciriello was the first foreign journalist slain during the current Mideast conflict. According to the group Reporters Without Borders, at least 56 journalists, mostly Palestinians, have been wounded by gunfire since the ongoing violence started in September 2000.
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