Posted on 05/01/2002 3:57:59 PM PDT by RCW2001
UNITED NATIONS U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan abandoned efforts Wednesday to send a fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp after Israel first gave a green light but later said mission members were biased.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, he said the team would be disbanded on Thursday.
Annan initially appointed the three-member team of fact-finders April 19 with the assurance of Israeli cooperation, but then ran into Israeli objections over the group's composition and mandate.
After Israel's security Cabinet announced that it couldn't accept the team without a major overhaul, the secretary-general told the council, "It seems evident that the team will not be able to proceed to the area to begin its mission in the near future."
Annan said he regrets not being able to provide information requested by the council on the Israeli attack, "and especially that the long shadow cast by recent events in the Jenin refugee camp will remain in the absence of such a fact-finding exercise."
The secretary-general also noted that time was "a critical factor."
"With the situation in the Jenin refugee camp changing by the day, it will become more and more difficult to establish with any confidence or accuracy the 'recent events' that took place there," he said.
"For these reasons, it is my intention to disband the fact-finding team tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.
Annan appointed former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari to head the team which includes Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Retired U.S. Maj. Gen. William Nash was named senior military adviser and Assistant Irish police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald senior police adviser, and two additional military and police experts were added to address Israeli concerns.
Not a word about those Pali suicide bombers yet, eh?!
KRAUTHAMMER:
Three people have been chosen by the United Nations to judge Israel's actions in Jenin. Two are sons of Europe, and one of those is Cornelio Sommaruga. As former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Sommaruga spent 12 years ensuring that the only nation on earth to be refused admission to the International Red Cross is Israel. The problem, he said, was its symbol: "If we're going to have the Shield of David, why would we not have to accept the swastika?"
This man will sit in judgment of the Jews. Marx was wrong when he said that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. The second time is tragedy
As head of the UN you share direct responsibility in the arming of the refugee camp and with fore knowledge of the reprisals that would have to take place by IDF, you are a War Criminal.
TRANSLATION: Annan regrets that his experts in the art of terrorist-appeasing will not be able to publish the passionate and righteously indignant press releases carefully written last week.
Not any more than you and your 'nattering ninnies of zionism' are disappointed that Sharon 'blinked' on Ramallah. :)
As someone once quipped... American WMD!!! The PIA (Personal Injury Attorney)!!!
are are USUAL 100% Correct!
Here's my suggestion to you Mr. RCW2001:
I've told You this before...Go and get on the Next flight
to any Pallie/Islamic Sewer Hole of YOUR Choosing.
Sit there for a few Weeks or Months...if they will allow
You to do so.
REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER!
Then come back to The USA...You will get off the Plane...
AND KISS THE GROUND!
What's more...YOU WILL NEVER IN THIS LIFETIME EVER GO
Back To Another Pallie/Islamic Sewer Hole Again.....
GUARANTEED!
Koffi and DribbleLips Arafat should RETIRE to Jenine!
What a Lovely Place to Start Over.
Koffi and Arafat...DESERVE EACHOTHER!
May They Both ROT In The Hell They Have Created!
Depends on how you look at it. :)
'Yasser Arafat is expected to emerge from the rubble of his Ramallah headquarters this week victorious, at least, for having survived a month-long Israeli siege. But Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is also a victor.
In exchange for agreeing to set free the Palestinian Authority president, Mr. Sharon is gaining leverage in his relations with the Bush administration, blocking a UN inquiry into possible Israeli war crimes in Jenin, and extricating himself from an impasse over Arafat's fate.'
The UN should STILL be held accountable to this question. And while they're at it, mabey they could discuss why there is a "refugee camp" there in the first place. Why is a "refugee camp" needed for 35 years?!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.