Israeli PM regrets UN post bombing deaths
Last Updated Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:06:46 EDT
CBC News
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized Wednesday for a bombing that killed three UN observers, including a Canadian, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
UN personnel carry the body of an unarmed UN military observer at a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Marjayoun on Wednesday. The person was killed when a bomb struck a UN observer post. (Lotfallah Daher/Associated Press) UN personnel carry the body of an unarmed UN military observer at a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Marjayoun on Wednesday. The person was killed when a bomb struck a UN observer post. (Lotfallah Daher/Associated Press)
Olmert said the killings were a mistake and promised a full investigation. Three observers are confirmed dead while one is missing.
The observers were from Austria, China, Finland and Canada, officials said. The Canadian is among the dead.
In a phone call to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Olmert expressed "deep regret" over the killings, according to Reuters news agency.
The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL. Canada is not a member of UNIFIL. The name of the Canadian has not been released.
Olmert expressed shock, however, that Annan had called the killings an "apparently deliberate" act by Israel.
"The prime minister said he would never fathom the thought that the mistake that was made would be categorized by the UN as an action that was done intentionally," said a statement from Olmert's office.
Annan said Tuesday that the UN post was clearly marked and Israel had given assurances to the UN that its positions would not be targeted by Israeli forces. "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," Annan said from Rome.
Annan called for an investigation and Olmert said the results of the investigation would be given to Annan.
Trapped in the rubble
Canada had eight personnel in the area as part of the UN Truce Supervision Organization.
One Canadian UN staff person ― a soldier with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who has reportedly been in the region for nine months ― was believed to be in the area struck by the bomb.
Alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada, said from Ottawa he was aware of an air strike, but couldn't confirm reports that a Canadian was among the casualties.
Jay Paxton, a spokesman for the Defence Department in Ottawa, acknowledged there had been an incident and said the department was tracking developments and awaiting further information.
Praying for husband
In Kingston, Ont., Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener spent Tuesday night praying that the Canadian was not her husband, Paeta.
"I'm sure he's OK," she told the Kingston Whig-Standard. "He knows what he's doing, and what he should be doing in that situation. There's a bunker there that he could have gotten into. We're not giving up hope."
She had last spoken to her husband at 8 a.m. Tuesday and although there was no follow-up call with good news, by late Tuesday night there had been no call with bad news either.
The body of Chinese UN observer Du Zhaoyu has been recovered and identified, China's Xinhua News Agency reported, citing unnamed sources with UNIFIL in Lebanon.
Two other bodies had reportedly been recovered but were not immediately identified.
'Personal assurances'
Annan said the attack took place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire."
Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., called Annan's reaction "deplorable." He said the observers were caught in crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Struger said there had been 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon.
"The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.
The UN base has been in operation since 1972 and co-ordinates the organization's activities in southern Lebanon.
With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press
Last Updated Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:06:46 EDT
CBC News
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized Wednesday for a bombing that killed three UN observers, including a Canadian, in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
UN personnel carry the body of an unarmed UN military observer at a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Marjayoun on Wednesday. The person was killed when a bomb struck a UN observer post. (Lotfallah Daher/Associated Press) UN personnel carry the body of an unarmed UN military observer at a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Marjayoun on Wednesday. The person was killed when a bomb struck a UN observer post. (Lotfallah Daher/Associated Press)
Olmert said the killings were a mistake and promised a full investigation. Three observers are confirmed dead while one is missing.
The observers were from Austria, China, Finland and Canada, officials said. The Canadian is among the dead.
In a phone call to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Olmert expressed "deep regret" over the killings, according to Reuters news agency.
The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post in the town of Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL. Canada is not a member of UNIFIL. The name of the Canadian has not been released.
Olmert expressed shock, however, that Annan had called the killings an "apparently deliberate" act by Israel.
"The prime minister said he would never fathom the thought that the mistake that was made would be categorized by the UN as an action that was done intentionally," said a statement from Olmert's office.
Annan said Tuesday that the UN post was clearly marked and Israel had given assurances to the UN that its positions would not be targeted by Israeli forces. "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," Annan said from Rome.
Annan called for an investigation and Olmert said the results of the investigation would be given to Annan.
Trapped in the rubble
Canada had eight personnel in the area as part of the UN Truce Supervision Organization.
One Canadian UN staff person ― a soldier with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who has reportedly been in the region for nine months ― was believed to be in the area struck by the bomb.
Alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada, said from Ottawa he was aware of an air strike, but couldn't confirm reports that a Canadian was among the casualties.
Jay Paxton, a spokesman for the Defence Department in Ottawa, acknowledged there had been an incident and said the department was tracking developments and awaiting further information.
Praying for husband
In Kingston, Ont., Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener spent Tuesday night praying that the Canadian was not her husband, Paeta.
"I'm sure he's OK," she told the Kingston Whig-Standard. "He knows what he's doing, and what he should be doing in that situation. There's a bunker there that he could have gotten into. We're not giving up hope."
She had last spoken to her husband at 8 a.m. Tuesday and although there was no follow-up call with good news, by late Tuesday night there had been no call with bad news either.
The body of Chinese UN observer Du Zhaoyu has been recovered and identified, China's Xinhua News Agency reported, citing unnamed sources with UNIFIL in Lebanon.
Two other bodies had reportedly been recovered but were not immediately identified.
'Personal assurances'
Annan said the attack took place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire."
Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., called Annan's reaction "deplorable." He said the observers were caught in crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Struger said there had been 14 other incidents of firing close to this position from the Israeli side Tuesday afternoon.
"The firing continued even during the rescue operation," he said.
The UN base has been in operation since 1972 and co-ordinates the organization's activities in southern Lebanon.
With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press
