PM orders probe into killing of 4 UN men, blasts Annan for saying it was deliberate
July 27, 2006
By Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies, By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Yuval Azoulay
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has informed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he has ordered a thorough investigation into an Israel Air Force strike on a UN position in southern Lebanon that killed four UN observers early yesterday morning.
Following a preliminary Israel Defense Forces investigation yesterday, the army said that it was responsible for the deaths of the four peacekeepers. The IDF said that it was continuing to investigate the incident and that arrangements were being made for the evacuation of the bodies of the four dead through Israel.
During a telephone conversation with the Annan yesterday, Olmert expressed ?deep sorrow? for the mistaken killing of the four peacekeepers and promised to share the results of the IDF investigation with the secretary-general.
Olmert also voiced criticism yesterday of a statement by Annan that Israel had deliberately targeted the UN position. ?It?s inconceivable for the UN to define an error as an apparently deliberate action,? Olmert said.
The four dead UN observers were officers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland.
Later in the day, Olmert called Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vahanen and expressed his sorrow for the death of the Finnish officer.
The four UN observers were killed when a bomb directly struck the building and shelter of an Indian patrol base in the town of Khiyam, near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.
At UN headquarters in New York, Annan said he was ?trying to get the details? of the attack. According to details of a preliminary UN report on the incident released yesterday, the peacekeepers called the IDF 10 times in a six-hour period to ask it to halt its nearby bombing before their observation post was hit.
The peacekeepers at the post said the area within a kilometer of the post was hit with precision munitions, including 17 bombs and 12 artillery shells, four of which directly hit the post on Tuesday, the report said.
Ireland?s Foreign Ministry said on yesterday that an Irish army officer in south Lebanon had warned the IDF six times that its attacks in the area were putting the lives of UN observers at risk.
?On six separate occasions he was in contact with the Israelis to warn them that their bombardment was endangering the lives of UN staff in south Lebanon,? a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
?He warned: ?You have to address this problem or lives may be lost,?? the spokesman said of comments by a senior Irish soldier working as a liaison officer between UN forces in South Lebanon and the IDF.
By Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies, By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Yuval Azoulay
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has informed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he has ordered a thorough investigation into an Israel Air Force strike on a UN position in southern Lebanon that killed four UN observers early yesterday morning.
Following a preliminary Israel Defense Forces investigation yesterday, the army said that it was responsible for the deaths of the four peacekeepers. The IDF said that it was continuing to investigate the incident and that arrangements were being made for the evacuation of the bodies of the four dead through Israel.
During a telephone conversation with the Annan yesterday, Olmert expressed ?deep sorrow? for the mistaken killing of the four peacekeepers and promised to share the results of the IDF investigation with the secretary-general.
Olmert also voiced criticism yesterday of a statement by Annan that Israel had deliberately targeted the UN position. ?It?s inconceivable for the UN to define an error as an apparently deliberate action,? Olmert said.
The four dead UN observers were officers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland.
Later in the day, Olmert called Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vahanen and expressed his sorrow for the death of the Finnish officer.
The four UN observers were killed when a bomb directly struck the building and shelter of an Indian patrol base in the town of Khiyam, near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.
At UN headquarters in New York, Annan said he was ?trying to get the details? of the attack. According to details of a preliminary UN report on the incident released yesterday, the peacekeepers called the IDF 10 times in a six-hour period to ask it to halt its nearby bombing before their observation post was hit.
The peacekeepers at the post said the area within a kilometer of the post was hit with precision munitions, including 17 bombs and 12 artillery shells, four of which directly hit the post on Tuesday, the report said.
Ireland?s Foreign Ministry said on yesterday that an Irish army officer in south Lebanon had warned the IDF six times that its attacks in the area were putting the lives of UN observers at risk.
?On six separate occasions he was in contact with the Israelis to warn them that their bombardment was endangering the lives of UN staff in south Lebanon,? a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said.
?He warned: ?You have to address this problem or lives may be lost,?? the spokesman said of comments by a senior Irish soldier working as a liaison officer between UN forces in South Lebanon and the IDF.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 7:00 PM
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