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Breaking News

Three Palestinians Shot for Collaborating with Israel

Aired April 22, 2002 - 08:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are now going to move along to our correspondent Nic Robertson who is in Ramallah with some breaking news, where Israeli troops have partially withdrawn, but still remain in full force around Mr. Arafat's compound.

Nic, you have just come across an example of something that is a sure indication that tensions remain high. Good morning, share this info with us this morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Paula. We heard about half an hour ago that three Palestinians had been shot about 100 yards from the center of Ramallah. Now, we arrived there about 10 or 15 minutes after they had been shot. A large crowd had gathered around the three men. Two of them appeared to be dead. One of them was still alive. Now, we were told by onlookers that they believed that these men who were being accused of being collaborators with the Israeli occupation, and that they had been shot on that account. It's not clear who they were shot by. The crowd was hostile, they would not allow any cameraman to get close to the situation. And equally, they would not allow ambulances that tried to get through to the injured and dead men. They would allow them through quickly.

Indeed, as one of the men, the man who appeared to be alive, was later carried to an ambulance, people were trying to hit him. There was a lot of anger directed at these men, Palestinians, that the crowd accused of being collaborators. There was some Palestinian security presence, they were trying to get the medical services through to the injured and dead men, but they were having a hard job. A crowd of some several hundred there -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Nic. There also seems to be some confusion about the actual status of the Israeli withdrawal from Ramallah. Is it true the troops are all but out, except for those troops surrounding the compound?

ROBERTSON: That is accurate. There are some troops, some tanks, armored personnel carriers, and Israeli military presence around Yasser Arafat's compound, and around the perimeter of Ramallah. Most of Ramallah's residents are not allowed to travel outside of Ramallah, and that is because the Israeli government wants to keep the troop presence -- their troop presence around Ramallah, for fear of suicide bombers coming out of Ramallah and getting into the crowded streets of Jerusalem -- Paula.

Nic Robertson, thanks so much for that update. We will go back to Ramallah when more information becomes available.

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