Last update - 00:00 08/05/2007
Knesset Officer checking claims Feb. murder of prof. targeted MK
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent
Knesset Officer Yitzhak Shadar is looking into whether there is any truth to claims by Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that the murder of Professor David Niv in February was in fact a failed attempt to assassinate an MK.
Shadar, who is in charge of security for MKs, is speaking with MKs in order to determine if any of them or their families own a silver BMW, similar to the one Niv was driving when he was killed.
The Knesset officer's letter to MKs is officially defined as a "request for assistance."
The 57-year-old Niv, who headed the pain clinic at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, was gunned down at roughly 1 A.M. on Aluf Sadeh Boulevard in Ramat Gan. The senior physician was on his way from Tel Aviv to his Savion home.
According to Shadar's letter, roughly two weeks ago the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Bridages' Web site published a claim that Niv was killed accidentally, and that the intended target was an MK.
According to the Web site, the MK who was the intended target often drives along the same route in a silver BMW with similar license plates.
Shadar has already clarified that none of the MKs was given a silver BMW in connection with the various Knesset and government positions they hold.
The MKs have been asked to report if "they or their immediately family own or use a BMW vehicle."