THREE U.N. OBSERVERS KILLED IN LEBANON
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer July 25, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - An Israeli
bomb destroyed a U.N. observer post on the border in southern Lebanon Tuesday, killing three observers and leaving another
feared dead, officials said. U.N. chief Kofi Annan
said Israel appeared to have struck the site deliberately.
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 U.N. peacekeeping
force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Annan said two observers
were killed with two more feared dead. Later, a U.N. official confirmed that a third body had been recovered. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.
One of the dead was identified
as Chinese U.N. observer Du Zhaoyu, China's
official Xinhua News Agency reported. The other three were from Austria,
Canada and Finland
but it wasn't clear which two were confirmed killed, U.N. and Lebanese military officials said.
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman expressed his "deep regret" for the deaths and denied the post was intentionally targeted.
Rescue workers were trying
to clear the rubble, but Israeli firing "continued even during the rescue operation," Struger said.
U.N. officials said four
observers were in the post when the bomb hit, and the building had been destroyed. Two bodies had been recovered and two were
unaccounted for, apparently still in the rubble. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The victims included observers
from Austria, a Canada,
China and Finland,
U.N. and Lebanese military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release
the information to the media. It was not immediately known which were confirmed dead.
As reports of the attack
emerged, Annan rushed out of a hotel in Rome following a dinner
with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
"I am shocked and deeply
distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a U.N. Observer post in southern Lebanon," Annan said in the statement.
Annan said in his statement
that the post had been there for a long time and was marked clearly, and was hit despite assurances from Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert that U.N. positions would not be attacked.
"I call on the government
of Israel to conduct a full investigation
into this very disturbing incident and demand that any further attack on U.N. positions and personnel must stop," Annan said
in the statement.
Gillerman called the assertions
"premature and erroneous."
"I am shocked and deeply
distressed by the hasty statement of the secretary-general, insinuating that Israel
has deliberately targeted the U.N. post," he said.
He said Israel would investigate the bombing. "We do not have yet
information what caused this death: it could be the IDF (Israel's
military) it could be Hezbollah," he said.
In the meantime, the envoy
assured that "Israel remains committed
to protecting the safety and security of U.N. personnel on the ground and is doing its utmost to guarantee that they be able
to carry out their mission."
The U.N. Security Council was expected to receive a briefing on the bombing on
Wednesday.
Since Israel launched a massive military offensive against Lebanon
and Hezbollah guerrillas July 12, an international civilian employee working with UNIFIL and his wife have been killed in
the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas in the southern port city of Tyre.
Five UNIFIL soldiers and
one military observer have also been wounded, Struger said.