(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Palestinians yesterday accused Israel of "killing" a minister who died a day earlier in a confrontation with troops during a protest march in the West Bank.
"After hearing the results of the post-mortem, the Palestinian government holds Israel fully responsible for the killing of Ziad Abu Ein," government spokesman Ihab Bseiso told reporters.
Abu Ein, 55, died on Wednesday following a violent confrontation with Israeli soldiers near the city of Ramallah, in an incident that prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to threaten measures in response.
Israel's army deployed reinforcements to the West Bank yesterday, anticipating clashes with Palestinians after Abu Ein's funeral.
Thousands of mourners turned out yesterday for a Palestinian state funeral for the minister.
To the sounds of drums and bagpipes, Abu Ein's Palestinian flag-draped coffin was carried by pallbearers in military uniform along a red carpet at the presidential compound in the city of Ramallah.
The funeral procession then streamed through the streets to a cemetery as people fired in the air.
Israeli and Palestinian officials issued conflicting accounts over the results of a joint Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli autopsy on Abu Ein.
He had been among about 100 people protesting against a Jewish settlement by planting olive trees in a village when Israeli soldiers and border policemen fired tear gas and sound grenades
A scuffle ensued in which a border policeman pushed Abu Ein and grabbed his neck with one hand. Footage of the incident and pictures do not show Abu Ein responding with any violence.
Minutes later the minister began to look faint and fell to the ground, clasping his chest. He died on his way to hospital. Shortly before his death, Abu Ein spoke to television reporters, sounding hoarse and short of breath.
An Israeli army doctor rushed to treat him before he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Both the Palestinian and the Israeli pathologist reports said Abu Ein died of a coronary blockage caused by haemorrhage. But the Palestinian doctor said the bleeding resulted from injury and his Israeli counterpart said it was likely brought on by stress.
Abu Ein had a pre-existing heart condition, Israel's Health Ministry said, and the blood vessels in his heart were found to be more than 80 percent blocked by plaque.
A senior Palestinian official, Hussein Al Sheikh, said earlier that Abu Ein, 55, had died from "being struck, inhaling tear gas and a delay in providing medical attention".
Sheikh said Israeli forces had prevented Abu Ein from getting to hospital quickly enough to save his life.
Palestinian officials in the West Bank have indicated they may call off security coordination with Israel following the incident, though that step appeared unlikely.
Abu Ein was a former deputy Palestinian Authority minister.
He was serving a life term in an Israeli jail over a 1979 bombing that killed two Israeli youths when he was released in a prisoner exchange in 1985
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