Thread: Israeli police suicide causes panic at Sarkozy farewell

June 24, 2008
Israeli police suicide causes panic at Sarkozy farewell

See the Video http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 205933.ece

Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem, and Jenny Booth

An Israeli border policeman prompted scenes of panic at a Tel Aviv airport this afternoon by committing suicide at a farewell ceremony for President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and his wife, Carla Bruni.

All protocol was dropped as the man's body fell from a high vantage point and a shot rang out. Mr Sarkozy and Ms Bruni were surrounded by their secret service agents and hastily bundled aboard their plane.

Security guards for Ehud Olmert pulled out their handguns and hustled the Israeli Prime Minister and his entourage into waiting bullet-proof limousines.

When the incident ended, however, Mr Olmert and Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, boarded the Sarkozy plane to say a proper goodbye.

Israel Radio said that the officer who died was about 100m away from the Sarkozy plane as it waited on the runway at Ben Gurion, Israel's largest international airport. Two women soldiers who witnessed the incident fainted and were treated by medics.

The policeman apparently fell from a vantage point on a high building, where he had been guarding the event. Reports suggest the policeman shot himself in the head. “This was in no way an assassination attempt,â€

Panic in Israel: Was it suicide or assassination attempt?
(London Times)

Officer's family: He didn't commit suicide
(YnetNews.com)

Soldier dies in Sarkozy farewell ceremony

(Video) Drama at Ben-Gurion Airport: Raid Asaad Ghanan, a Border Guard officer tasked with perimeter security assignment during farewell ceremony for French president Sarkozy, shoots himself; VIPs at airports rushed away from scene by bodyguards

Roni Sofer
Latest Update: 06.25.08, 00:14 / Israel News

VIDEO - Tragedy at farewell ceremony: A Border Guard officer tasked with a perimeter security assignement during the farewell ceremony for French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Ben-Gurion Airport was killed after apparently shooting himself.

Video courtesy of Infolive.tv http://www.infolive.tv/

An ambulance was rushed to the scene to treat the soldier, but a short time later he was pronounced dead.Police officials estimated that the officer committed suicide.

The incident caused a scare during the ceremony, prompting body guards to rush VIPs away from the area. The armored cars of President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were rushed to the ceremony site, and the two were taken away from the area.

Meanwhile, the French president was taken into his airplane, which was waiting on the runway, by his own bodyguards. After the circumstances of the incident became clear, the bodyguards allowed Peres and Olmert to board the plane and bid Sarkozy farewell.

A member of Peres' entourage told Ynet, "There was no panic; a routine procedure was activated by the prime minister's and president's bodyguards. The incident is behind us and the French president is on his way back home."

After the gunshot was heard, security forces began searching for the shooter, who was found lying on the ground. A security officer who witnessed the shooting recounted the incident to the police.

Officer's family: He didn’t commit suicide

The dead Border Guard officer was identified as Raid Asaad Ghanan, 32, of the Druze village of Beit Jan. his family members refused to believe that he had committed suicide.

"We scornfully reject the claims that our son took his own life," a family member said. "He was a kindhearted and happy person. He had a family and there was no reason for him to do such a horrible thing."

The officer's father, Asaad Ghanan, said that his son had left the house on Tuesday morning in good spirits.

"He had a family, he had friends, he had plans for the future and had no reason to commit suicide," the father said.

Naif, Raid's brother, said that the police representatives who informed the family of their son's death, had told them that the circumstances of the incidents were unclear and would be probed by an investigating officer.

"It is unthinkable that my brother took his own life. We believe this was an accident, or even an incident in which my brother was accidentally shot by one of the security officials in the area."

Raid's cousin, Mouin Ghanan, said that the officer was born and raised in Beit Jan. "He excelled in everything, starting at school, through his military service in the Givati Brigade, and later continued to serve the State when he joined the Border Guard."

Raid's mother Hanna was killed in an accident several years ago. He was survived by his father, wife, two children, three brothers and five sisters.

Eli Senyor and Ahiya Raved contributed to this report

First Published: 06.24.08, 17:14

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 21,00.html