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Officer suspended after failing polygraph over Na'alin shooting By Yuval Azoulay The commander of the 71st Armored Battalion, Lt. Colonel Omri Burberg, was suspended for 10 days pending an investigation into an incident in which a soldier in his command shot a Palestinian prisoner three weeks ago. The incident, which occured three weeks ago near the Palestinian village of Na'alin, was caught on camera by a local and shows Burberg holding on to a bound and blindfolded civilian as the soldier took aim and shot him in the foot with a rubber coated bullet. Advertisement The decision to suspend Burberg came following a hearing by GOC Northern Command, Major General Gadi Eisenkot, who is the overall commander of Battalion 71. Eisenkot said at the conclusion of the hearing that the incident "was serious and reflected a failure of command and values, even though the battalion commander did not intend for real shots to be fired, only that it be used as a scare tactic." Israel Defense Force sources said yesterday the Military Police investigation findings would be transferred to the Military Advocate General. Following the hearing, Lt. Col. Burberg convened all the officers in the battalion and informed them of his suspension. Military sources said the fact Burberg assumed full responsibility for the incident serve him in good stead. However, yesterday, the human rights group B'Tselem, filed a complaint against Burberg for another alleged incident that occured two weeks ago also near Na'alin, in which the Lt. colonel allegedly assailed a Palestinian medic. B'Tselem, which filed the complaint against the shooting, says that according to the Palestinian's testimony the battalion commander kicked him and stepped on his hands after he fell on the ground and after firing a smoke grenade at Palestinian protesters. The Palestinian said that after the commander left the scene, the soldiers continued to beat him until he lost consciousness. The army denied the veracity of the Palestinian's allegations and described the new complaint as "trying to influence the decision of MAG in the investigation against the officer in the rubber bullet incident." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Internal fighting Human rights groups say torture is widespread in Palestinian lockups. Danger looms Pentagon chief Robert Gates warns: War with Iran would be 'disastrous.'

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