Global Policy Forum

By Edith Lederer

A divided Security Council has been left groping for a response in the wake of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's decision to disband a fact-finding team intended to answer questions about Israel's attack on the Jenin refugee camp.

Annan decided on Wednesday to abandon the mission because of Israeli opposition. The move was met with regret by all council members, but it especially angered Arab nations. The Palestinians reiterated their accusations that Israelis "committed war crimes" during the eight-day assault and were trying to hide their criminal acts.

"What is left to be known is the scope of the killing" and whether it is "tantamount to a massacre," said Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser Al-Kidwa.

But Israel's U.N. ambassador, Yehuda Lancry, insisted: "There were no atrocities. There was no massacre. There was a fierce battle between Palestinian terrorists and the Israeli army." He said 47 Palestinian gunmen were killed in Jenin, along with 23 Israeli soldiers and seven Palestinian civilians, "whose deaths ... we regret."

On Wednesday, Jenin hospital officials said 52 bodies had been uncovered so far in Jenin camp. But Palestinian officials insisted many more may have died - and are possibly buried under a pile of rubble the size of two football fields.

At a Security Council session that lasted into the early hours Thursday, the Arab group introduced a draft resolution authorizing the council to take "measures" if Israel didn't allow the fact-finding team. The resolution was drafted under a provision allowing the use of military force and would almost certainly have been vetoed by the United States, Israel's closest ally.

The Arabs later dropped the provision allowing for military force, but their draft still requested that Annan send the fact-finding team to Jenin and demanded that Israel cooperate, which was still unacceptable to the United States.

Early Thursday, the Arabs demanded a vote on the measure - apparently trying to provoke a U.S. veto, which could have embarrassed the Bush administration. But after members had gathered in the council chamber to vote, the Syrians and Tunisians suddenly withdrew the draft, apparently realizing that they didn't have the required nine "yes" votes among the 15 council members.

The United States had proposed that the council express its "regret" at Israel's decision "not to cooperate" with the team. Ireland proposed stronger terms - "deploring" Israel's action.

In the end, both those draft resolutions were set aside, and the session was closed until Thursday. Council president Kishore Mahbubani said a Thursday meeting would consider a response to Annan's letter announcing the decision to disband the mission.

Annan appointed the three-member team of fact-finders on April 19 after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres gave a green light for the mission, saying the country had "nothing to hide."

When the team was announced, however, Israeli objected to its composition and mandate. Following two days of meetings last week between U.N. officials and an Israeli delegation, Israel's security Cabinet set six conditions for cooperation with the fact-finding team.

Israel demanded that it control who could be called as a witness and what documents would be presented to the panel. Israel also insisted that its soldiers be protected from prosecution and wanted more counterterrorism experts. It demanded that activities by Palestinian militants in the camp be scrutinized, and that the team just compile facts - not draw conclusions.

In his letter to the council on Wednesday, Annan said that in light of the Cabinet's announcement, "It seems evident that the team will not be able to proceed to the area to begin its mission in the near future."

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.

Announcing that he therefore intended to disband the team on Thursday, Annan said he regretted that without a fact-finding mission "the long shadow cast by recent events in the Jenin refugee camp will remain."

The team was to be headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari and included Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

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