Israeli warplanes staged mock raids over Lebanese territory Sunday, even as a United Nations team arrived in south Lebanon to investigate a videotape shot last October by an Indian peacekeeper following the capture of three Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah.
The seven-member team is led by UN Undersecretary General Joseph Connor. The first two team members arrived in Lebanon Thursday, and Connor and one other colleague arrived Saturday.
The team traveled to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura on Sunday and visited the “locations involved” in the incident, UNIFIL spokesman Timur Goksel said, quoted by the Lebanese Daily Star.
He added that it was not known how long the team would remain in Lebanon, and it was unclear whether every allegation against the UN recently raised in the Israeli media would be investigated.
“It’s up to them. They decide on the parameters” of the investigation, Goksel said.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard has said Connor would look into reports that UN peacekeepers may have collaborated with Hizbollah in the raid.
The videotape that sparked the controversy was shot by an Indian UNIFIL soldier a day after the October 7 Hizbollah operation. The tape shows two vehicles abandoned by the Hizbollah fighters, which could have been used to whisk away the captive Israelis. Also on film are the contents of the cars, which included two UNIFIL uniforms, UN paraphernalia, weapons and explosives. Several Hizbollah members also appear.
For months afterwards, the UN told Israel the video did not exist. But three weeks ago, the UN admitted that the videotape existed after all, but handed to Lebanon and Israel an edited copy where Hizbollah fighters’ faces are obscured.
Israel has rejected the offer and insists on seeing an unedited copy.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reportedly apologized to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the UN's initial denials after a "harsh" exchange of words with the Israeli prime minister last week, according to BBC Online.
The confirmation of the video’s existence led to a flurry of reports in the Israeli media accusing the UN of bias and inefficiency and alleging that Indian UNIFIL peacekeepers were bribed with “alcoholic beverages, Lebanese girls and large sums of money” by Hizbollah to look the other way during the operation.
Hizbollah captured three Israeli soldiers that the resistance movement wants to use as bargaining chips in exchange for the many Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.
UNIFIL rejected the allegations, describing them as “total slander.”
According to the Lebanese paper, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer last week indicated he would be willing to release Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Abdel-Karim Obeid, two resistance leaders kidnapped by Israeli forces in 1994 and 1989, respectively, in exchange for information on the well-being of the four Israelis.
Meanwhile, Israeli jets scattered anti-missile flares as they flew low over Khiam on Sunday, said the daily – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
