International   

Gun drama at Tel Aviv airport

Jerusalem: Bodyguards rushed Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to safety on Tuesday after an Israeli police officer shot himself in the head during a departure ceremony at Tel Aviv airport.

Mr. Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni were at the foot of the steps leading up to their aircraft when security guards heard a single gunshot.

The two leaders appeared not to have heard anything but Ms. Bruni ran up the steps. Mr. Sarkozy was directed into the aircraft, and Mr. Olmert was rushed to his car, which was parked close by. Israeli President Shimon Peres who was also at the ceremony marking the end of Mr. Sarkozy’s three-day visit, was led away.

Within moments the incident was over, and Mr. Olmert boarded the plane himself. Some reports suggested that the officer, from the border police, fell from a building and that his gun fired accidentally. Other accounts suggested he shot himself in the head. The officer was reported to be at least 100 metres from the aircraft.

“This was in no way an assassination attempt,” an Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Reuters. He said the police officer had killed himself.

The incident came at a time of mounting concern over the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Court puts off Pakistan by-poll
Qureshi’s India visit begins tomorrow
Tsvangirai: time to reach political settlement
Consensus in Nepal on amendment
Soon, U.S. Army may have woman general
Obama pitches in for Hillary
Taliban kills 28 tribal leaders
More doubts over Fiji elections
Gun drama at Tel Aviv airport
The millionaires’ club has just got bigger
Bush wants progress on nuclear deal

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu