LONDON - Britain's top legal adviser will meet Israeli ministers to gather evidence which may lead to Israeli soldiers being prosecuted in Britain over the fatal shooting of two Britons in Gaza, a government spokesman said on Monday.

The victims' families have asked Attorney General Peter Goldsmith to consider whether war crimes charges can be brought under the Geneva Convention.

Peace activist Tom Hurndall, 22, was shot in the head in Gaza in April 2003 and cameraman James Miller, 34, a father of two, was shot dead weeks later by a member of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Goldsmith said he wanted to find out more about both cases before deciding whether to bring prosecutions from Britain.

"I need to consider myself whether there ought to be prosecutions here in either of these cases," he said in comments released by a spokesman.

"I will carefully consider this without any preconceptions. This is not about raising expectations about whether anything is going to happen one way or another."

He is due to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Justice Minister Haim Ramon and senior legal and defence officials, his spokesman said.

An Israeli court convicted Bedouin Arab soldier Taysir Hayb last year of Hurndall's manslaughter. In April, a jury inquest in London found Hurndall had been intentionally killed.

A jury at a separate London inquest on Miller's death last month returned a verdict of unlawful killing and concluded that Miller was murdered while making a documentary about Palestinian children caught up in fighting with Israel.

Witnesses told the inquest Israeli troops shot Miller at close range even though he wore journalist insignia and waved a white flag.

The Israeli army in April 2005 cleared an officer identified only as Lieutenant H of any wrongdoing in Miller's death, drawing an official protest from the British government.

Hurndall's family has called for senior Israeli officers to be prosecuted, saying the convicted soldier had been made a scapegoat for Israeli army policy.

"We want the Attorney General to investigate ... what happened and to bring appropriate charges if the Israelis will not," the peace activist's father Anthony Hurndall told the BBC.

"It is possible for the Attorney General to have arrest warrants issued so that should any of those responsible travel outside Israel, and within Europe, they can be arrested and brought to this country and prosecuted."

Israel has said it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties during clashes with Palestinian militants, and investigates fatalities when criminal wrongdoing is suspected.

© Reuters 2006

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