Straw condemns 'unlawful killing'

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today condemned the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as "unacceptable, unjust" and unlikely to benefit Israel.

The spiritual head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was targeted in an Israeli air strike while returning from a mosque in Gaza City at daybreak.

Mr Straw, arriving in Brussels for EU talks on counter-terrorism, said the attack was nothing more than an "unlawful killing".

He called for restraint on both sides and went on: "All of us understand Israel's need to defend itself against terrorism which affects it - within international law.

But he said Israel was not entitled to carry out "this kind of unlawful killing, which we condemn".

He said: "It is unacceptable, unjust and very unlikely to achieve (Israel's) objectives."

The Foreign Secretary said he did not believe that Israel would benefit from the killing of an old man in a wheelchair.