Reuters: UK seeks Bethlehem release of grieving protester
reuters-repost | 02.04.2002 15:45
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it was trying to secure the release of an injured protester trapped in Bethlehem and unable to come home for his father's funeral.
"We are in negotiations with Israeli authorities to try and get this man out," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
Briton Kunle Ibidun, 30, was one of several foreigners hurt on Monday when an Israeli soldier fired at the ground in front of peace activists as they marched through the centre of the West Bank town of Beit Jala.
He received the news of his father's death from a stroke when he returned to his hotel in Bethlehem, his sister said, adding that he was desperate to fly home.
"Today, Kunle, who is devastated at the news of his father's death, is trapped in a hotel in Bethlehem as Israeli security forces refuse to allow a consulate car to escort the protesters through the fighting to the airport," she said, adding that he was not badly injured.
Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday battled Israeli troops in Bethlehem as Israel invaded more West Bank towns after a wave of suicide bombings it blames on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, now a virtual captive in his own headquarters.
REUTERS
Briton Kunle Ibidun, 30, was one of several foreigners hurt on Monday when an Israeli soldier fired at the ground in front of peace activists as they marched through the centre of the West Bank town of Beit Jala.
He received the news of his father's death from a stroke when he returned to his hotel in Bethlehem, his sister said, adding that he was desperate to fly home.
"Today, Kunle, who is devastated at the news of his father's death, is trapped in a hotel in Bethlehem as Israeli security forces refuse to allow a consulate car to escort the protesters through the fighting to the airport," she said, adding that he was not badly injured.
Palestinian gunmen on Tuesday battled Israeli troops in Bethlehem as Israel invaded more West Bank towns after a wave of suicide bombings it blames on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, now a virtual captive in his own headquarters.
REUTERS
reuters-repost
