Israeli soldiers accused of tampering with corpses

Lt-Gen Moshe Ya'alon ordered the investigation after the publication of several detailed claims of such abuse that the Israeli Defence Forces declared its "ethical strength" was no less important than its "military strength". According to one account in the newspaper Yedhiot Ahronot, soldiers from one unit had rearranged body parts of a suicide bomber who had blown himself up at a Jordan Valley checkpoint, positioning the bomber's head on a concrete barrier and putting a cigarette in his mouth before taking photographs.

The Labour Knesset member Ophir Pines-Paz submitted an urgent parliamentary motion claiming the actions "testify to a moral imperviousness and there must be action taken to prevent this from recurring".

The move came as the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Ali Abul Gheit, postponed a trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories 36 hours after three members of the Egyptian security forces were shot dead by Israeli tank fire at the country's border with Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed the postponement but insisted it was for a period of days and was for logistical reasons unconnected with the shooting. Although the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement condemning the "irresponsible conduct" of the Israeli forces, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian President, was said by officials to have accepted a personal apology made by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister.

Read More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=584774