Palestinian gunfire may have killed journalist

A BRITISH journalist shot dead while filming Israeli Army operations in the Gaza Strip was hit from behind, raising the possibility that he was killed

James Miller's body was being taken to the Israeli national forensic centre in Jerusalem for an autopsy, the army said.

Miller, 34, a prize-winning documentary maker, was killed on Friday night in the southern Gaza city of Rafah while he and his crew were filming Israeli troops on an operation to find and destroy weapon-smuggling tunnels on the Egyptian border.

The local Foreign Press Association, the British Foreign Office and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders on Saturday called for investigations into Mr Miller's death.

"We are asking for a swift and serious inquiry," Tami Allen-Frost, vice-chairwoman of the local Foreign Press Association, told Israel radio yesterday.

"The fact that we journalists take risks doesn't give general licence to shoot at anything that moves. I think that in most cases the press can be identified and several incidents could have been prevented," she said.

Associated Press Television footage showed the crew waving a white flag and yelling that they were British journalists as they approached an armoured bulldozer conducting the operation. Witnesses said that an Israeli tank opened fire at the journalists, but the army denied there were tanks in the area.

Immediately after the shooting, the army said that it returned fire after being attacked by rocket-propelled grenades. Colonel Avi, the forces' commander in the area, said that after the shooting stopped, troops heard cries for help in English and saw people holding a flag and Mr Miller lying on the ground.

Yesterday, the Israeli army said that Mr Miller was shot from behind, meaning that it was possible that he was hit by Palestinian fire.

On videotape of the incident a number of single shots can be heard, although it is unclear from the night footage at what point Mr Miller was hit.

Daniel Seaman, director of Israel's government press office, said journalists "should be aware that when they enter an area like that, a soldier is concerned with his own life".

"It's a split-second judgment, whether to shoot or not," Mr Seaman said. "I prefer that in situations like that they shoot, because I prefer that there not be a dead soldier. Journalists have a choice, they cannot be there. The soldier has to be there," he said.

Mr Miller, 34, had worked for CNN, the BBC, C4 and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

He was the fourth foreigner and the second journalist to be injured or killed in the West Bank or Gaza in recent weeks. Associated Press television news cameraman Nazeh Darwazeh was killed on April 19 in the West Bank city of Nablus while filming clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians.