BBC driver's death a 'tragic mistake'

Abed Takoush (picture Crewcut pictures)

The Israeli army has defended its soldiers who fired a tank missile last month, killing a Lebanese driver, Abed Takoush, who was employed by the BBC.

Mr Takoush was killed when the missile hit the car he was sitting in, on the Israel-Lebanon border, as the rest of the BBC team were filming nearby.

But the BBC has expressed dissatisfaction over the Israeli army statement, saying there was overwhelming evidence that its troops were recklessly targeting civilians in the area at the time.

The correct firing procedures were respected, but the team in the tank identified a group of people and thought, wrongly, that they were terrorists.

Israeli army statement

The head of the BBC news gathering, Adrian van Klaveren, said the report contained a number of factual errors and the corporation would continue to seek both an apology and an admission of liability from Israel.

The army said it became clear afterwards that "a tragic mistake" had been made.

The army statement said the tank crew had acted according to procedures and had received permission to fire at people on the Lebanese side of the border who they suspected were preparing to fire anti-tank missiles.

Shooting at civilians

But Mr van Klaveren said he believed there was evidence that the army had breached humanitarian law by targeting a civilian.

"We will now be examining the options open to us under international law," Mr van Klaveren said.

The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, who was standing close to Mr Takoush's car when it was hit, described the Israeli explanation as unacceptable.

"It still leaves a lot of unanswered questions," Mr Bowen said. "It remains my conviction that they were shooting at civilians along that stretch of the road."

The case has been taken up by human rights group Amnesty International, which said at least four Lebanese civilians including Mr Takoush were killed by Israeli tank fire during Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.

Mr Takoush, who was married and had three children, had worked as a driver for the BBC for 25 years.