France 2 loses libel case....

The judge sides with Karsenty who claimed that Mohammed al-Dura's death had been staged....

A French appeals court on Wednesday overturned a libel verdict won by France 2 television over a report about the killing of a Palestinian boy in 2000.

The Paris court ruled in favour of media critic Philippe Karsenty, who called into question the veracity of the report, but it also said that it did not rule out that journalists at France 2 had acted professionally.

Karsenty, head of an online media commentary site, had appealed a 2006 decision which found libellous his statement that the station's Israel correspondent had orchestrated images which later became a symbol for Palestinian militants.

In February, Karsenty presented judges with new evidence including a ballistics report and footage from other sources, which he said proved 12-year-old Mohammed al-Durra's death had been staged.

The court said in its ruling the new footage "did not allow to rule out the opinion of (France 2) professionals," but it also rejected claims by state prosecutor Antoine Bartoli that the new evidence was "neither complete nor serious."