U.N. Team Begins Trip After Annan Dismisses Israeli Demand for Delay
Thursday, April 25, 2002
UNITED NATIONS — Israel pushed the United Nations on Wednesday to clarify the mandate of a U.N. fact-finding team and add members with military expertise, saying the mission appears designed to blame Israel for devastation wrought in battles with Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp.
An Israeli team flew to New York to try to persuade U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to expand the 3-person team to include anti-terror and military experts. Annan has not ruled out adding experts in an advisory capacity, but hasn't discussed altering the core 3-person team. He also has said he won't delay the mission's arrival, expected by Saturday.
Alan Baker, a Foreign Ministry official on the Israeli team traveling to New York, said that following Israel's request, the team's military adviser, retired U.S. Gen. William Nash, was given a more central role.
"The secretary-general agreed to upgrade him and place him, rather than an adviser, as a status more or less equal to the members of the team," Baker said. He would not say whether that would satisfy Israel's requirements on the makeup of the mission.
The Palestinians allege Israeli troops carried out a massacre during eight days of fierce fighting in the Jenin camp earlier this month. Israel denies the allegations, saying most of those killed were gunmen. So far, 48 bodies have been retrieved; others may still be buried under the rubble. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers also died in the fighting.
Annan agreed to Israel's request for a meeting at U.N. headquarters on Thursday where the delegation from Jerusalem will tell U.N. officials their concerns.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Wednesday the secretary-general is confident that the issue over the mission would be resolved.
At the request of Arab nations, the U.N. Security Council held consultations late Wednesday to discuss a draft resolution requesting Israel's full cooperation with the fact-finding commission and demanding an end to the Israeli military sieges of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.
No action was taken on the document, and diplomats said discussion would resume late Thursday.
Asked repeatedly whether Israel would block the team from entering Jenin, Baker, the Israel Foreign Ministry official, said: "I really can't say. The prime minister and the foreign minister will meet to discuss this and give me instructions. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with this question."
Similarly, Eckhard deflected a question on what would happen if Israel decides not to cooperate with the team.
"We're confident that this team is going to go and that we're going to be able to resolve our differences if they are differences with Israel," he said.
"Getting the Israelis and Palestinians to agree on anything is not easy but we would like them both to agree that this is going to be a fair and impartial study," Eckhard stressed.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by phone Tuesday night and also to Annan, trying to clear the way for a fact-finding commission.
"Clearly, innocent lives may well have been lost," Powell testified Wednesday before the U.S. Congress. But, he said, "I have no evidence of mass graves. I see no evidence that would support a massacre took place."
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