'Look again at Rabin killing'

BREAKING a self-imposed silence on the tenth anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, the official responsible for the Israeli prime minister's security at the time of his murder is calling for a new investigation into the killing.

The call by Dror Yitzhaki, who headed the Shin Bet internal security service bodyguard unit, comes amid a flourishing of conspiracy theories in Israel about the assassination.

The Israeli media are rife with speculation that the prime minister may have been struck by three bullets, including one fired from the front, rather than only two from the back specified in the coroner's report. For those who believe that, it opens the door to the participation of a second assailant.

Mr Yitzhaki's plea to reopen the file is seen by some as a way of deflecting responsibility for the failures of his unit to protect Mr Rabin. He resigned after the assassination and was criticised by the state inquiry for not fulfilling his duty properly.

On 4 November, 1995, at the end of a peace rally, Jewish fundamentalist Yigal Amir, who opposed Mr Rabin's peacemaking with the Palestinians, approached the prime minister in what was supposed to be a closed-off area and fired on him from behind. He is serving a life sentence for murder.

A film shown on Israeli television on Thursday night displayed a vest worn by Mr Rabin at the time he was killed. It had a hole in the front. A forensic expert who was interviewed said the hole came from a third bullet. That was music to the ears of the conspiracy theorists.

According to one theory, Shimon Peres, the current vice-premier, wanted to stage an assassination attempt to discredit right-wing opponents of the peace moves.

Another version says that Mr Peres had Mr Rabin killed because the prime minister intended to withdraw his support for the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians, which recognised their mutual political rights.