MORE than nine years after the event, Israel yesterday effectively acknowledged that its commando forces assassinated Mr Yasser Arafat's deputy, Mr Khalil al-Wazir, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Jihad, in his Tunis villa at the height of the Palestinian intifada.
The Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv, yesterday published a thorough account of the operation that culminated in the death of Abu Jihad, the PLO's military commander, in the early hours of April 16th, 1988. Although the article did not include an official admission of responsibility, the fact that the military censors allowed its publication indicated official readiness to have the full story released.
The assassination was ordered in the immediate aftermath of a March 1988 attack by Palestinian gunmen on a civilian bus in southern Israel, in which three Israelis and the gunmen were killed. Israel claimed that Abu Jihad was behind this and dozens of other attacks on Israeli targets, and regarded him as a key figure behind the intifada.
The account published yesterday highlighted the textbook assurance with which the killing was planned and carried out, and the trauma for the assassinated man's family; his wife, Ms Intissar al-Wazir, and some of their children were at home when the Israelis burst in.
After the officer deputed to carry out the killing had shot Abu Jihad in his bedroom, four or five other officers in turn fired more shots into his body to ensure that he was dead; later examination showed 70 bullet holes in the corpse.
Among those deeply involved in the assassination were Mr Amnon Shahak, now the Israeli army chief of staff, and Mr Ehud Barak, then the deputy chief of staff and today the head of the main opposition Labour Party.
The reasons advanced for the assassination included the fact that Abu Jihad had overseen PLO military activity for 15 years, his behind-the- scenes role in the intifada, and the perceived psychological impact of his killing on the then-enemy PLO. Other voices argued at the time and since that the killing was a means for the Israeli military to recover self- respect.
AFP adds from Jerusalem: Christians in Israel were up in arms yesterday over a "sacrilegious photo-montage in a magazine depicting the Virgin Mary with a cow's head.
The photo was published in the latest edition of the Galileo periodical as part of a series of articles on human cloning and its dangers.
"It shows a mentality according to which Jews are God's chosen people while others are from communities whose feelings do not merit respect," Father Elias Audi said in Nazareth.
The publication followed days of controversy over posters depicting the prophet, Muhammad, as a pig which Jewish extremist groups had put up around the West Bank. Thousands of Palestinians marched through the town of Nablus yesterday calling for revenge against Israel for the posters.