Rabin testifies before Hebron massacre inquiry

Rabin testifies before Hebron massacre inquiry

JERUSALEM (AFP): Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin gave evidence behind closed doors yesterday to Israel's official inquiry into the massacre of 30 Moslems at a Hebron mosque on Feb. 25, officials said.

Rabin went into the session at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem accompanied by his legal adviser Shmuel Hollander, his bureau director-general Shimon Sheves and director Eytan Haber.

As prime minister, Rabin is responsible for the secret services and is also the defense minister in charge of the army which maintained security at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The secret services have been criticized for allegedly failing to warn of a possible massacre of Palestinians by a Jewish settler and the army has admitted that security orders were not followed on the day of the killing.

Rabin was expected to be the last person to testify before the five-man inquiry led by Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar.

However Myriam Goldstein, wife of the mosque murderer, could still be forced to give evidence or be held in contempt of court.

The inquiry committee was also expected to announce officially that some of the 94 people who testified could now face prosecution.

The findings of the inquiry would be published in about six weeks, the officials said.

Right-wing Likud party MP Ariel Sharon criticized on Wednesday the inquiry system in Israel.

Sharon, who resigned as defense minister after an inquiry into the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut in 1982, told Israel radio: "The idea of indirect responsibility developed by Israeli legal experts does not exist in any other democracy and is a grave mistake because it damages the army, the country's leaders and the State of Israel."

He was held responsible for "disregarding the danger of acts of revenge and bloodshed by the Phalange (Christian militia) against the population in the refugee camps".