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| quote: | U.N.: Observers made many calls before strike
Annan, China condemn attack that killed 4
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The U.N. observers killed when an Israeli bomb hit their bunker in Lebanon Tuesday called an Israeli military liaison about 10 times in the six hours before they died to warn that aerial attacks were getting close to their position, a U.N. officer said.
After each call, the Israeli officer promised to have the bombing stopped, an officer at the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in Noqoura said.
Finally, an Israeli bomb exploded directly on the U.N. post near Khiyam, killing four U.N. observers from Austria, Finland, Canada and China, the U.N. officer said.
As of Wednesday morning, three of the four bodies had been recovered from the rubble, an officer at the UNIFIL base in Noqoura said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the incident would be "thoroughly investigated" and that the Israeli military had taken measures since the start of its bombardment of southern Lebanon to protect the U.N. observers there.
"Israel would never deliberately target U.N. personnel," Mark Regev said.
According to Regev, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called U.N.Secretary-General Kofi Annan and "expressed his regret at this tragedy in Lebanon."
Annan issued a sharply worded statement Tuesday evening which said he was "shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting ... of a U.N. observer post in southern Lebanon." He called on Israel to conduct "a full investigation into this very disturbing incident."
"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked U.N. post at Khiyam occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that U.N. positions would be spared Israeli fire," Annan said.
"Furthermore, General Alain Pelligrini, the U.N. force commander in south Lebanon, had been in repeated contact with Israeli officers throughout the day on Tuesday, stressing the need to protect that particular U.N. position from attack."
The timeline provided CNN by a U.N. officer in Lebanon showed the first bomb exploded about 200 yards from the U.N. outpost at 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, prompting the first call by the UNIFIL observers to their designated contact with the Israeli military. The officer said they were assured by the Israeli liaison that he would stop the attacks.
A series of about nine more bombs hit within 100 to 400 yards from the observers over the next several hours, with a call to the Israeli military following each explosion.
The U.N. base at Noqoura lost contact with the outpost at 7:40 p.m., apparently the time of the direct hit, the officer said.
China issued a strong condemnation of the Israeli airstrike, according to a statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry Web site Wednesday.
"China urges the concerned sides, especially Israel, to take tangible measures to ensure the security of UN peacekeepers," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
China's state-run news agency -- Xinhau -- said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun called in Israeli Ambassador Yehoyada Haim Wednesday morning to discuss the attack.
"China strongly condemns the activity to raid the UN peacekeeping post and urge Israel to carry out thorough investigation and apologize to China and the victim's families and coordinate with China to deal with the aftermath," Xinhau quoted Zhao as telling the Israeli ambassador.
Xinhua said the Chinese observer killed was Du Zhaoyu.
Journalist Anthony Mills in Beruit contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/m...deast.observers |
| quote: |
Israel troops 'ignored' UN plea
The UN deaths have provoked an international outcry
The UN post
UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon contacted Israeli troops 10 times before an Israeli bomb killed four of them, an initial UN report says. The post was hit by a precision-guided missile after six hours of shelling, diplomats familiar with the probe say.
UN-led crisis talks in Rome ended with no agreement to urge an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Eight Israeli soldiers have died in ongoing clashes - the biggest loss in one incident since the conflict began.
Twenty-two soldiers were injured as Israeli troops tried to gain control of the town of Bint Jbeil, a strategically located Hezbollah stronghold.
An Israeli officer died in a separate clash later.
And a massive explosion destroyed a several-storey building in the centre of Tyre housing the offices of a top Hezbollah commander.
He was not there at the time.
A senior Israel army general said he expected the fighting would continue for "several more weeks".
More than 400 Lebanese and 42 Israelis have died in two weeks of conflict, which began after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on 12 July.
In other developments:
- Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel, injuring 31 people, security and medical sources say
- A Jordanian military plane arrived in Beirut to evacuate some of the most seriously wounded Lebanese civilians
- Ten lorries loaded with food and medical supplies arrived in the southern town of Tyre from the capital, Beirut
- Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on TV that his organisation would begin firing rockets further south into Israel than Haifa
- More than 300 people - mainly US and Australian citizens - who had been caught in the fighting in southern Lebanon are due to leave from Tyre on a Canadian ferry on Wednesday evening
Israeli regrets
The four unarmed UN observers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland, died after their UN post in the town of Khiam was hit by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday.
I cannot believe the level of force with which Israel has decided to retaliate in Lebanon
Glen, Edinburgh
The UN report says each time the UN contacted Israeli forces, they were assured the firing would stop. A senior Irish soldier working for the UN forces had warned the Israelis six times that their bombardment was endangering the lives of UN staff, Ireland's foreign ministry said.
Had Israel responded to the requests, "rather than deliberately ignoring them", the observers would still be alive, a diplomat familiar with the report said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has expressed "deep regrets" over the deaths.
Israel is conducting an investigation into the incident.
It has rejected accusations made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that the targeting of the UN position was "apparently deliberate".
White House spokesman Tony Snow said "something went really wrong" to cause the deaths, but also said there was no reason to suggest the bombing was deliberate.
The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss the incident.
'Utmost urgency'
The Rome summit, called by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, brought together EU and Arab nations plus the US and Russia, but not Israel, Iran or Syria.
The conference released a declaration expressing "determination to work immediately to reach with utmost urgency a ceasefire to put an end to the current hostilities". It also said a ceasefire "must be lasting, permanent and sustainable".
The statement called for an international force with a UN mandate for south Lebanon, and the full implementation of existing UN Security Council resolutions calling for the disarming of militias and deployment of Lebanese troops in the border region.
Mr Annan said it was important to work with the countries of the region, including Syria and Iran, to find a solution to the crisis.
But Condoleezza Rice was critical of the role of both countries.
"It's not a question of talking to Syria, it's whether Syria's prepared to act," she said.
In an impassioned speech, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora warned that more people would die if the ceasefire was delayed, and called for a Lebanese-Israeli prisoner exchange as part of plan to end the fighting.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/...ast/5217176.stm
Published: 2006/07/26 21:34:20 GMT
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Last edited by ogvh5150 on Jul-26-2006 at 22:51
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