Israel has agreed to negotiate compensation for the family of Moroccan waiter killed in Noway 22 years ago by Israeli agents who mistook him for a top terrorist.
Prime Minister Shimon Peres has asked a lawyer to study the compensation claims of the widow of Ahmed Bouchiki, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Norwegian Prime Minister Bjorn Tore Godal reportedly welcomed Peres’ decision.
Bouchiki was killed in 1973 as he walked home from a movie theater in Lillehammer with his wife.
Israeli security agents thought that he was Hassan Salameh, a Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist believed to have masterminded the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Salameh died in a car-bomb explosion in 1979 in Beirut.
Five people, identified at their trial as Israeli agents, were convicted of involvement in the shooting and served prison terms from seven to 22 months.
However, the statement said Israel was not admitting responsibility for the killing.
“The prime minister stressed that he was not going into the question of responsibility for the incident which brought about Bouchiki’s murder,” the statement said.
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