Palestinian president Yasser Arafat said a British peace activist who died of wounds inflicted by an Israeli soldier last April should be considered a "Palestinian martyr".
22-year-old Tom Hurndall was overcome by pneumonia at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, in south-west London, the BBC reported Wednesday.
Arafat has decided that Tom Hurndall should be considered a Palestinian martyr, who sacrificed his life in the name of freedom," WAFA news agency reported Thursday.
Hurndall had been in a coma since being shot in a Palestinian refugee camp. An Israeli soldier has already been indicted on six charges, including one of "aggravated assault".
The Palestinian leader expressed his grief following the news of Hurndall's death earlier this week and said the activist is "a true example for those who fight for the freedom of our oppressed people."
Hurndall, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier on April 11, 2003, as he was trying to pull Palestinian children to safety near the border area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, witnesses said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
