US Republican Senator Calls for Probe into Palestinian Journo Shireen Abu Akleh’s Assassination

By Staff, Agencies

A senior US senator called on President Joe Biden’s administration to push for “a full and transparent investigation” into the killing last month of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in a rare move from a Republican Party politician.

Mitt Romney, the senator from Utah, sent a letter on Monday to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the state department to ensure accountability for Abu Akleh’s killing, which caused global outrage and condemnation.

“We insist that the administration ensure a full and transparent investigation is completed and that justice is served for Ms. Akleh’s death,” said the letter, which was co-signed by Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia.

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party has been vocal in calling for an investigation, many of them pointing fingers at the Zionist entity for the killing of Abu Akleh, who was a Palestinian-US citizen.

Abu Akleh was shot in the head by ‘Israeli’ occupation forces in Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, as she covered an ‘Israeli’ raid on Jenin’s refugee camp on May 11. Al Jazeera said she was “assassinated in cold blood.”

Al Jazeera Media Network continues to demand a rapid, independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who was known as the Voice of the Palestinians.

On the day of her funeral, the Zionist regime forces stormed the procession and started beating mourners, causing pallbearers to almost drop her casket, drawing global condemnation.

The letter demanded “detailed updates on the progress of this effort” within 30 days. The call comes as Biden reportedly plans a visit to the ‘Israeli’-occupied Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia in the coming month.

The senators’ calls underscore the pressure from US lawmakers on the issue. Earlier last month, dozens of US legislators signed a letter demanding the FBI investigate the killing of Abu Akleh.