Annan rejects Israeli demands

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today refused Israel’s demand to delay and change a UN fact-finding team that will probe Israel’s assault on the Jenin refugee camp and told its members to arrive in the Middle East by Saturday.

The UN Security Council held emergency consultations last night after Israel sought a delay, saying it wanted more military and counter-terrorism experts added to the three-member team and also wanted the group to investigate Palestinian terrorist activities in the camp.

Israel says the mission's terms of reference violate agreements between Israel and the UN, an official said.

The official also says those chosen to lead the mission are political appointments, and not from a military background as Israel had requested.

Also, the appointments were made without the agreed consultation with Israel, he says.

The Jenin camp was the scene of eight days of intense fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen.

Palestinians charge that Israeli forces massacred civilians, and hundreds of people were killed.

Israel counters that in the house-to-house battle in which 23 Israeli soldiers died, most of the Palestinian casualties were gunmen or bombers.

So far about 50 bodies have been recovered from the ruins in the centre of the camp, but more are still buried.