How is this different from OBL and Saddam

Straw condemns Hamas chief death


UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has condemned the Israeli missile attack on Ahmed Yassin as "unlawful".
Mr Straw said the killing of the spiritual head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was "unjust" and "unacceptable".

The attack which came as the leader returned from a mosque in Gaza, also killed eight others and wounded many.

Speaking at an EU meeting on terror, Mr Straw said he did not see the benefits of killing an old man in a wheelchair.

No carte blanche

The foreign secretary, who is in Brussels for EU talks on counter-terrorism, called for restraint on both sides.

"All of us understand Israel's need to defend itself against terrorism which affects it, within international law."

But he said this did not entitle Israel to carry out "this kind of unlawful killing, which we all condemn".

"It is unacceptable, unjust and very unlikely to achieve [Israel's] objectives," he said.

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said the killing of Ahmed Yassin represented a "regrettable escalation" of violence in the Middle East.

"I quite accept the right of countries to protect their citizens and this man may well have been the instigator of many terrorist acts against Israel, but I think the sadness of this is ... there is no military solution to this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The only resolution of the problem in the Middle East is going to be through talks and that solution is further away now than ever."

Confidence building

Mr Ancram said everyone knew the answer to the Middle East situation was a "secure" Israel and a "viable" Palestinian state alongside it on the West Bank.

Once the peace process resumed, America, the UK and other parts of Europe, "have a role in encouraging that dialogue forwad", he said.

"But I don't believe you can fight your way to the [negotiating] table, that you can actually bomb, shoot or kill your way to the table.

"I think it has to be done by building confidence and restoring confidence and I'm afraid what has happened today is the antithesis of this," Mr Ancram added.