JERUSALEM
The main suspect in the gruesome murder of Palestinian teen Mohamed Abu Khdeer in Jerusalem earlier this month is expected to plead insanity at his trial, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot has reported.
According to the newspaper, the suspect, a 30-year-old Israeli settler whose name is being withheld, had been arrested previously for the attempted murder of his baby daughter.
Israeli media quoted the suspect as admitting to Abu Khdeer's murder, saying he did it – along with others – in revenge for the earlier killing of three Jewish teenage settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"We did it for revenge. We looked in all Arab neighborhoods and saw that Arab child alone," he was quoted as saying.
"We kidnaped him in our car, poured gasoline on him, and burnt him in one of Jerusalem's forest," he added.
The suspect also reportedly admitted to attacking Moussa Zalom, a ten-year-old Palestinian child, one day before Abu Khdeer's abduction and murder.
"We just wanted to beat him, not to kidnap [him]," he was quoted as saying.
Abu Khdeer, 16, was abducted from outside his home in East Jerusalem's Shuafat neighborhood on June 2. Later the same day, his charred body was found in a forest near Jerusalem.
Footage taken from a security camera near Abu Khdeer's Jerusalem home showed what appeared to be Jewish settlers abducting the boy. In the footage, the kidnappers can be seen forcing him into their car before speeding off.
His murder was widely believed to be a "revenge" attack by Jewish settlers for the earlier disappearance and death of the three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the three settlers' disappearance or subsequent death.
By Anees Barghouthy
www.aa.com.tr/en
