Pilot Samer Hanna”s Killer Tells Story Behind Helicopter Incident
The Hizbullah member, who opened fire at an army helicopter killing pilot Samer Hanna last year, told the military court that he mistook the chopper for an Israeli aircraft.
Mustafa Hassan Muqdim, 23, who is a member of Hizbullah”s military wing, told the court on Friday that he was in a room when he heard a chopper and gunshots in Sujud hills on August 28, 2008.
Muqdim said he went outside thinking the helicopter was Israeli and fired five rounds from his Kalashnikov rifle from a distance of 250-300 meters.
"Then I saw people heading towards the helicopter and I stopped shooting," the man told the 10-minute hearing. "We were three in the room when the chopper came. My friends did not take part in the shooting because they didn”t have guns."
He said he didn”t see the Lebanese flag on the chopper and the sun”s rays possibly blurred his vision. The 23-year-old added that he was at the party”s post the day before and wasn”t informed about the possibility of having a Lebanese helicopter flown in the region.
"We weren”t in a state of alert at the time in the area. We had instructions to shoot in case of self-defense. That is obligatory," pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted Muqdim as telling the court.