Italian activist's murder trial due to start in Gaza

The first session of a trial to sentence the murderers of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni is due to start on Thursday in a Gaza court, a Ma'an correspondent reported. The Italian activist and journalist was murdered after being kidnapped by a group that identified itself as Salafist, on April 15, 2011. He was found hanged in a house northwest of Gaza City. Hamas security forces were able to find the group responsible for the murder in An-Nuseirat refugee camp, three days after the murder. Clashes erupted between the group and Hamas forces, killing two of the accused murderers. A third was injured and a fourth detained. President Abbas condemned the murder of Arrigoni as a "grotesque and disgraceful crime." News of the Italian activist's murder was greeted with widespread condemnation, and demonstrations and vigils were held across the West Bank in his memory.