Copyright 2001 Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post
August 22, 2001
HEADLINE: Israeli Team Views UN Videotapes in Geneva
BYLINE: Jonathan Fowler (The Associated Press)
GENEVA (AP) – Israeli experts today studied videotapes and bloodstained
items that may shed light on the seizing of three Israeli soldiers on the
Lebanese border last October.
The eight-member team, following up
on an Israeli inspection in New York earlier this month, included legal,
forensic and medical specialists, Israel's UN Ambassador Yaakov Levy told
reporters.
The eight-hour viewing took place under tight security
at the United Nations European offices in Geneva. Levy said he was
"satisfied" with UN cooperation.
After looking at the two
videotapes and seven bloodstained items at UN headquarters in New York on
Aug. 8, Israeli officials and army officers said many questions remain
unanswered, including how badly the three soldiers may have been wounded.
Levy said the team in Geneva had viewed "new items" unseen in New
York. "We won't go into specifics because of the delicacy of the
situation," he said.
But he said he hoped the viewing would help
the team "determine the state and situation of the soldiers," adding that
several members the delegation would stay for another day to continue
examinations
The militant Hizbullah group which is believed to be
holding the men has refused to divulge information about their conditions
or allow Red Cross access to the captives. It said it will not release
them until Israel frees Lebanese and Arab prisoners.
The
bloodstained items were taken from two vehicles believed to have been
involved in the Oct. 7 capture.
The World Health Organization is
expected to arrange an analysis of the blood to determine if it is from
the Israeli soldiers.
In an about-face, Israel earlier this month
accepted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's offer to view an edited version
of a tape filmed by an Indian peacekeeper 18 hours after the capture. It
shows armed Hizbullah terrorists demanding that UN peacekeepers hand over
the two vehicles.
The Israeli delegation is also believed to have
seen an unedited version of a newly discovered UN tape taken at the time
of the capture. It shows smoke that could be from the burning jeep the
Israeli soldiers were driving.
Last month, Annan ordered an
investigation into the mishandling of the tape showing the confrontation
with Hizbullah terrorists. UN officials denied for months that they had
the tape, which caused friction with Israel.
The Aug. 3 report on
the investigation revealed the existence of another tape showing Israeli
positions under fire on the day of the abduction. But the UN said the tape
did not show the kidnapping.
Levy refused to say whether the
delegation had seen the video.
The UN said relatives of the
missing soldiers would be welcome to view the material as part of the
Israeli delegation. But no family members were at today's viewing.
The Lebanese government has argued that letting Israel see the
video sets "a dangerous precedent" by relaying information from inside
Lebanon to the Israelis.
Hizbullah leaders said that UN
peacekeepers would be considered spies if the organization let Israel
watch the tape.