Masked gunmen kill Palestinian TV chief

CHAT TRANSCRIPT Matthew Chance: Palestinian TV director gunned down in restaurant

GAZA CITY -- Three masked gunmen shot and killed the head of Palestinian state television as he sat at a hotel restaurant on Wednesday, Palestinian security officials said.

Hisham Miki, a prominent figure close to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and affiliated with Arafat's Fatah movement, died on the scene. He had headed Palestinian TV since its founding in 1994.

Officials said the gunmen walked up to Miki, who was sitting in the restaurant at the Beach Hotel, and shot him at close range in the head and chest. No other injuries were reported.

Palestinian security officials combing the area for clues said it was too early to name any suspects. But the Palestinian leadership, in a statement read on state television, said "collaborators" were responsible for Miki's death.

"The leadership mourn the martyr Hisham Miki, the head of the Palestinian Satellite Television and coordinator of the Broadcasting Corporation, who was martyred by the bullets of treason and collaborators," the statement said.

VIDEO CNN's Matthew Chance reports the director general of Palestinian television was shot in a Gaza City hotel Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO CNN's Matthew Chance: "Officials say he was killed on the spot 209 kb/38 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO Arafat, Israeli foreign minister to meet in Cairo

Palestinian officials did not directly point at finger at Israel, however, and Israel denied involvement.

"Israeli security forces had no connection to the incident," said an Israeli army statement.

The Israeli government has accused Palestinian television of broadcasting images of clashes and funerals almost nonstop during the last 16 weeks of bitter violence between Israelis and Palestinians. But the television station said it has done nothing more than broadcast footage of events.

Clashes and funerals have been an almost daily occurrence since September 28. The fighting has left at least 394 people dead. The Palestine Red Crescent Society says that 339 of the dead were Palestinians, and the Israel Defense Forces says that 44 were Israeli Jews and 13 were Israeli Arabs.

Security officials on the scene, however, would not immediately tie Miki's death to the current conflict. Some officials said that he could have been killed for personal motives.

Police said that Miki's driver, who was also his bodyguard, had been detained for questioning.

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