The lynching of Mohammad Mansour

Let's give these guys a country!

STATEMENT REGARDING THE MURDER OF MUHAMMAD MANSOUR
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Office)
Friday, 18 March, 2005

On Thursday, 13.1.05, Muhammad Mansour was kidnapped for interrogation in the context of being suspected - by fugitive Fatah Tanzim terrorists in the Balata refugee camp - of cooperating with Israel.

According to the fugitives, Mansour admitted that he cooperated with Israel and worked with an Israel Security Agency (ISA) officer, having passed on information that led to the arrest and death of several senior fugitives in the camp, including Nadr Abu Lil and Hashem Abu Hamdan, senior Fatah Tanzim terrorists in Nablus, who directed several attempted suicide attacks inside Israel and who were killed in an Israeli action.

After his interrogation, Mansour was brought before a Muslim cleric who heard his confession before Mansour was executed, in order to add religious credibility to the confession. Mansour was filmed confessing and expressing regret for his actions.

On the evening of 14.1.05, fugitives called on residents of the Balata refugee camp to gather in the marketplace in order to observe the execution. Thousands heeded the call. Mansour, his hands bound, was ordered to kneel on the ground. Tanzim fugitives shot Muhammad Mansour in full view of the gathered crowd. When Mansour fell over onto the ground, one of the fugitives emptied an entire clip from his sidearm into Mansour's head. The mother of Nadr Abu Lil thereupon came out, stabbed Mansour's corpse and gouged out its eyes. The mother of Hashem Abu Hamdan and his brothers thereupon gashed Mansour's corpse with knives and axes.

When an ambulance came to collect the body, it was stoned by the mob. The ambulance driver was beaten and forced to flee the scene. Mansour's corpse was later delivered to the hospital, after having been further abused by the mob. The mob set out for Mansour's house and was met by his father who came out and declared that his son was a traitor whom he disowned. Thus the mob
was deterred from burning the home.

A senior Tanzim fugitive from Balata, Ala Sanakhara, told a Palestinian Authority publication that they were responsible for Mansour's murder due to the fact of the latter's having caused the death of a Tanzim "fighter" and that they took upon themselves the responsibility to act in place of the security services.

The state of Israel wishes to clarify that Muhammad Mansour had no connection whatsoever with any ISA officials or with any other Israeli elements.