Friday, November 30 2001 @ 04:48 AM GMT
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By Robert Fisk
Chilling new evidence suggests that more than 1,000 Palestinian
survivors of the Sabra and Chatila camp massacres in Beirut were
"disappeared"
within 24 hours of the slaughter, often in areas under direct Israeli
military control.
The testimony – which describes in detail how the victims were last
seen by their families in the hands of Israeli troops and Israel's militia
allies – will be among the material to be considered by a Belgian
judge, who could decide today whether the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel
Sharon, should be prosecuted for the slaughter.
Mr Sharon was judged "personally responsible" for the massacre by the
Israeli Kahan Commission in 1983. Its report concluded that hundreds of
Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were all butchered
between 16 and 18 September in 1982.
But among the female witnesses cited by lawyers in Belgium, who are
seeking the indictment against Mr Sharon, are at least five who claim that
more than 100 men were detained by the militiamen and handed over to
the Israelis alive. They were never seen again.
Separately from the court action,film taken by a television crew at the
time, which has recently come to light, appears to show Israeli
officers in the presence of Phalangist gunmen – long after the Israelis knew
their Phalangist allies had carried out the massacre, which caused
worldwide outrage and led Mr Sharon, then Defence Minister, to resign.
There has always been a discrepancy between the number of bodies found
in Sabra and Chatila – up to 600 – and the number of civilians
registered as missing – more than 1,800. Until now, it was assumed that all
the
victims had been murdered by Phalangists and that many had been
secretly buried.
If accepted by the court, the new evidencecould hold disturbing
implications for both the Israeli army and for Mr Sharon, particularly if the
Israelis continued their collaboration with the Phalange after the
murders in the camps and if they permitted the Phalange to take away more
prisoners.
*The British Independent
http://palestinechronicle.com.
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