Kurd protesters were shot in back by Israeli guards

THE INVESTIGATION into the fatal shooting of four Kurdish protesters in front of the Israeli general consulate in Berlin last month was plunged into controversy yesterday amid German hints that the Israelis lied about the event.

According to German witnesses, the Israeli guards fired at demonstrators as they were fleeing the building. Two of the four victims were shot from behind, say the German policemen who had been on guard.

Israel had always maintained that its guards had fired in self-defence, fearing that the building was about to be stormed by demonstrators enraged by the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Kurdish newspapers had reported that Israel's secret service, Mossad, had played a role in the affair.

Kurdish protesters occupied several diplomatic missions throughout Europe, smashing furniture and holding some diplomats hostage. Israel has said its guards opened fire in Berlin because the consulate was about to be overrun.

But yesterday, speaking before a committee of Berlin's regional parliament, Hansjurgen Karge, the state prosecutor leading the investigation, said the Israeli account did not tally with statements of German policemen. Due to the "contradictions", he could not confirm the Israeli view that the Kurds were shot in self-defence.

Mr Karge said German police had reported that the two Israeli guards had opened fire on the crowd outside the building, and not within the consulate, as the Israelis said. While Israel claims its guards shot in the air, or aimed at protesters' legs, Mr Karge confirmed that two of the victims were hit in the head by bullets.

Mr Karge did not dispute the claim that self-defence must have played some role, in view of the violent nature of the protest. "But prosecutors cannot definitively say whether this was true for the whole sequence of events," he added.

Although the Greens in Berlin have called for a commission of inquiry, there is little chance of a full investigation, as the guards enjoyed diplomatic immunity and both have returned to Israel.