Investigation Into UN Handling Of Video Launched

July 23, 2001
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem News
Original Source: http://www.worthynews.com/news-features/inside-mid-east-peace-442.html

A special six-man UN team has arrived in Lebanon to begin its official inquiry into the mishandling of a videotape connected to the abduction of three IDF soldiers last October. 
UN Undersecretary-General Joseph Connor's arrived at UNIFIL headquarters in Nakoura in southern Lebanon on Sunday to commission an inquiry team into the UN's handling of the videotape pertaining to the Hizb'Allah abduction of St.-Sgts. Binyamin Avraham and Omar Suwayed and Sgt. Adi Avitan some ten months ago. 

The 6-man team, appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is expected to remain in the area for a few days to investigate senior UN officials' initial denial of the existence of the tape, filmed by an Indian UNIFIL soldier some 18 hours after the kidnapping. It will also interview UN personnel and visit various sites, among them the UN outpost overlooking the kidnap scene and the point where the abandoned vehicles were found. 

Following denial by senior UN officials - among them UN Special Peace Envoy Terje Larsen - of the existence of the tape, there have been allegations that the UN is hiding other information regarding the soldiers' abduction. 

There have also been unsubstantiated reports that some UNIFIL troops may have been bribed by Hizb'Allah activists either to actively lure the soldiers into the ambush, or to turn a blind eye. UNIFIL has denied the allegations. 

Meanwhile, Lebanon's DAILY STAR reported that UN peacekeepers discovered evidence in the two abandoned vehicles used by Hizb'Allah during the abduction that Israel would have screamed for if they knew it had existed, a former UN military observer says. 

The source, a former officer with the UN Truce Supervision Organization, told the Beirut paper that after the kidnapping, UNTSO received instructions to destroy all photographs and written reports connected to the investigation due to the potential sensitivity of the issue. UNIFIL, however, denies that previously unreported sensitive material was found in the two vehicles and insists that no reports or photographic evidence was destroyed. 

The source said that Observer Group Lebanon, a part of UNTSO, was informed hours after the abduction that two abandoned vehicles had been found. Indian UNIFIL troops secured the site overnight, and an OGL team was instructed to carry out an investigation into the two vehicles, a white Nissan Pathfinder and a dark green Range Rover. 

The vehicles were abandoned after the Nissan, which had been traveling too fast, missed a turn and hit an embankment. The Range Rover, the engine of which was still running when it was found, had lost a tire rim. 

Although the OGL team was under instructions not to touch the contents of the two vehicles until military engineers had ensured that neither was booby-trapped, in a move that contravened safety and common sense, the team together with Indian UNIFIL soldiers began removing equipment from the two cars. 

Apart from the equipment known to have been on board, the source revealed that there was other equipment in the cars which was deemed extremely sensitive. He refused to describe the equipment through some lingering loyalty to the UN. Suffice to say that if the Israelis had known about it they would have been screaming for it as it contained current and relevant information that could have been easily linked to the incident. 

However, the source's additional comments indicated that the extra material could well have consisted of one or more mobile phones. Nearly every young man in Lebanon, and Israel, carry and use them, he said. 

The source was also able to lend some support to a DAILY STAR report last November which quoted an Indian officer as saying that the back of the Range Rover had been soaked with blood. There appeared to be a great deal of blood, the source said, but cautioned that a little bit of blood can look like a lot. 

The sensitive material was taken to Naqoura, where, the source believes, it was locked in a safe prior to being handed back to Hizb'Allah. In the days following the kidnapping, senior UN staff realized the potential sensitivity of the issue and ordered that any photos taken and reports written about the incident be destroyed. I can confirm that this was done on the UNTSO side of the house, the source said, adding that at least four other people could bear witness to the fact. 
Used with Permission from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.