Palestinian Police Kill Two Pro-Bin Laden Demonstrators in Gaza

Voice of America, October 8, 2001

Two young protesters have been shot dead and dozens of people injured Monday in a clash between Palestinian police and hundreds of anti-U.S. demonstrators at Gaza City's Islamic University.

A police statement says gunmen opened fire after officers used non-lethal ammunition to disperse a crowd of rock-throwing students who had gathered to protest U.S. airstrikes against Afghanistan and express their support for suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. It was not immediately clear whether the two victims, aged 13 and 21, were shot by police or rioters. Ten policemen were injured in the clash, one of them seriously with a bullet wound in the head.

The militant Islamic group Hamas organized the demonstration in defiance of a Palestinian Authority ban.

Meanwhile, senior Palestinian officials are distancing themselves from Osama bin Laden's remarks in a videotape released Sunday. In the message, the exiled Saudi dissident linked the terror attacks against the United States with the Palestinian uprising against Israel, and said Americans would not have security until the Palestinians do.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told reporters the Palestinian leadership does not support any new mistakes done in the name of the Palestinians. Mr. Abed Rabbo said it is true that crimes are being committed against the Palestinians, but he said that does not justify the killing of civilians in New York, Washington or anywhere else.

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