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UN Panel Announced for Jenin Probe


VOA News
22 Apr 2002 17:24 UTC
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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a three-member fact-finding team to probe Israel's military assault on the Palestinian refugee camp at Jenin. 

The team is headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Two other members are Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross; and former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata. 

Israel agreed to the probe after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to launch an investigation. The panel is expected to begin work immediately. 

Earlier today, the human rights group Amnesty International joined international calls for a probe of the Israeli military invasion at Jenin. 

The rights group says it has evidence of serious Israeli human rights abuses in the wrecked West Bank camp. In a London news conference, Amnesty said it must be determined whether the Israeli army committed war crimes during its three-week offensive. 

Amnesty International said a preliminary probe found no evidence of mass graves in the Jenin camp, as alleged by Palestinian survivors. Israel has flatly denied reports alleging a massacre at Jenin. It says fewer than 100 Palestinian fighters were killed. Palestinians say hundreds of people died. 

Israeli troops invaded the camp April 3, after a series of deadly Palestinian suicide bombings. 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP. 

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