The U.N. Security Council is holding a closed-door emergency meeting to discuss Israel's reported withdrawal of approval for a U.N. fact-finding team set to go to the Jenin refugee camp. 

The team would investigate Palestinian claims that Israeli forces massacred civilians at the West Bank camp, a charge Israel denies. 

The U.N. talks are being held behind closed doors. A senior U.S. official says Washington wants Israel to allow the team in. The official says the United States sponsored the U.N. resolution authorizing the team's creation and wants to see the initiative implemented as written. Britain also condemned Israel's reported change of heart. 

Israeli sources say Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suspended approval because he believes the leaders of the U.N. team were chosen for political reasons. Israel wants military experts to head the team, not humanitarian experts. 

The team is led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Other leaders of the fact-finding team were to be the former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga, and former U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Sadako Ogata. Retired U.S. Major General William Nash was to serve as the team's top military advisor. 

Mr. Ahtisaari said the team could be in the Middle East by the end of this week. That timetable is now in question. Mr. Ahtisaari had planned to first meet with Israeli foreign affairs and defense officials before talking to Palestinian officials. 

Meanwhile, Amnesty International says its delegates who just returned from Jenin found credible evidence of serious breaches of international humanitarian law. 

Amnesty says the U.N. team should be seen as only a first step towards a full scale inquiry into what happened in Jenin. The rights groups says without a clear mandate and full cooperation from Israel, the U.N. team will be unable to conduct an authoritative inquiry. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

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