HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------Security Council Wants Jenin Mission Under Way Quickly
(Backs secretary general's efforts to break impasse with Israelis)
(460)
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- After holding emergency consultations on
Israel's
refusal to allow a UN fact-finding mission into the Jenin refugee
camp,
the Security Council April 28 backed Secretary General Kofi
Annan's
efforts to get the team into the area as soon as possible.
Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of Russia said that "the
members
of the council remain firm in their insistence on full implementation
of
resolution 1405. They are concerned at the continued delay in the
arrival
of the fact-finding team."
The council members "strongly support the secretary general in his
efforts
to ensure the immediate deployment of the fact-finding team to Jenin
with
the full cooperation of Israel and the Palestinian Authority,"
Lavrov
said.
The council has scheduled another meeting for April 29 to get
another
update on the talks. "The members of the council expect a positive
report
from the secretary general by 29 April, that is tomorrow," the
council
president said.
Lavrov also called in Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry to inform him
of
the council's decision.
The secretary general first agreed to delay the departure of the
mission
until April 27 after Israel said that it wanted further discussion on
the
team's mandate and composition. Annan then agreed to another delay to
give
the Israeli cabinet an opportunity to approve the mission.
Representatives of Israel's Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry,
and
Defense Forces met with UN officials from the offices of
peacekeeping
operations and legal affairs on April 25 and 26. Undersecretary
General
for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast chaired the sessions.
Prendergast briefed in the council on the latest developments April
28.
In the meantime, the team, headed by Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, has
been
in Geneva preparing for its departure to the Middle East and had
expected
to leave for the region on April 28. Its departure was delayed after
the
Israeli cabinet said that conditions were "not yet right" for the
mission
to take place.
Annan then asked the council for another 24 hours to try to work
things
out with Israel.
The secretary general spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Perez
twice during the day.
During the one-hour private meeting April 28, council members
were
supportive of the secretary general's approach to the talks and his
demand
that the group be allowed in as soon as possible, diplomats said.
During the consultations, Prendergast reported that the issues
revolved
around whom the UN team would have access to on the Israeli side,
the
team's freedom of movement in the West Bank and in the Jenin camp, and
the
presence of Israeli officials in meetings between the team
and
non-Palestinians, diplomats said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of
International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web
site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
NNNN
--------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST
==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
