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Sharon Fears Outcome of UN Fact-Finding Mission |
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TEL AVIV, Apr 23, 2002 -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that Israel had been left with no choice but to accept the United Nations fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp, and that he feared the results it would produce, Israel Radio reported. Sharon reiterated his position that he would not evacuate any settlements in the territories, saying that "the fate of Netzarim is the fate of Tel Aviv." He told those present that the terror in the Gaza Strip was ongoing, Army Radio reported. Knesset member Ran Cohen said that he suspected Sharon's remarks meant that the IDF would soon carry out an operation in Gaza, the radio said. A high-ranking IDF officer reported to the committee that there had recently been 250 terror attacks in the Gaza Strip. Annan: UN team not 'prosecutors or criminal investigators' United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said Sunday that the fact-finding mission he was dispatching to the camp was not "a team of prosecutors or criminal investigators... They are going to establish the facts," he said, in answer to a question over whether the team would be looking into possible war crimes. Events that unfolded at the camp - the scene of the fiercest fighting during the IDF offensive in the West Bank - are at the center of a heated dispute, with the Palestinians claiming hundreds were killed in a massacre, and Israeli leaders insisting that several dozen Palestinians were killed, the vast majority gunmen, in house-to-house fighting. While the Palestinians welcomed the appointment of the three-member fact-finding team, Israeli leaders have responded skeptically, with Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer calling Annan to complain that Israel was not consulted, as was requested. Earlier Monday, Annan announced that former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari would lead the team, which would also include Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, the former U.N. high commissioner for refugees. One of Israel's main criticisms - the absence of a military man on the inspection panel - was answered when Annan upgraded U.S. Maj. Gen. William Nash from military adviser to the team, to a full-fledged delegate. Nash commanded a multinational force in Bosnia in 1996 and was the U.N. administrator in northern Kosovo in 2000. The official Israeli sources were critical of the composition of the team, saying they were "surprised that the secretary general did not consult Israel about its makeup. We expected the fact finding about operations would be done by military experts." But they reiterated comments by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to Annan, that "Israel has nothing to hide." Government sources said the makeup of the commission was "the lesser of evils" but expressed a fear that the backgrounds of Ogata and Sammaruga in humanitarian affairs could backfire on Israel. The Israeli sources considered the former Finnish prime minister Ahtisaari, who visited Israel in 1999, the "least problematic" of the commission members, but noted that none of the commission members have any experience or understanding of Middle East affairs, especially the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Despite Israeli criticism Annan said "I expect the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to cooperate fully with the team and provide full and complete access to all sides, sources of information, and individuals that the team will consider necessary to meet in the exercise of their functions." Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu questioned the legitimacy of the fact-finding team Tuesday, telling Israel Radio that it was clear it would be guided "by a desire to harm Israel. It will produce results that will harm Israel. It is completely illegitimate." Netanyahu, who plans to challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for leadership of the Likud ahead of national elections scheduled for late 2003, also said that the UN, instead of setting up a team to inspect events at the Jenin camp, should be investigating Palestinian suicide attacks on Israel. © Ha'aretz, 2002. All rights reserved. Distributed in partnership with Middle East News Online and Globalvision News Network (www.gvnews.net). |
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