Lebanon: report on UN probe into videotape controversy expected soon

The top United Nations management official left Lebanon today after interviewing peacekeepers as part of his investigation of the handling of a controversial videotape that may relate to last year's kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah.

Under-Secretary-General Joseph Connor will return to New York this evening and is expected to finish his report by the end of this month, according to a UN spokesman.

While in Lebanon, Mr. Connor "interviewed members of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon [known as UNIFIL] in connection with his internal investigation into the taking of a videotape of two vehicles thought to have been involved in the abduction of three Israeli soldiers on the Israeli-Lebanese border last October," spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

Asked for details about the probe, Mr. Eckhard noted that Mr. Connor had a small team working with him, including staff members who were reviewing documentation in the region and in New York.

In response to another question, the spokesman recalled that last week Mr. Connor had received an invitation to visit Israel from the Israeli Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN.

"Mr. Connor explained that the terms of reference of his mission are to look into what the peacekeepers did, and that he therefore would not be meeting with any representatives of government," Mr. Eckhard said. "He did tell the Deputy Permanent Representative on Friday that if any government had information that they felt was relevant to his investigation he would be happy to receive it."

The videotape incident was mentioned in Secretary-General Kofi Annan's latest report on UNIFIL, which was released yesterday. "A controversy arose between the Israeli authorities and the United Nations over a UNIFIL videotape, filmed on 8 October 2000, of vehicles that may have been used by Hizbollah in the abduction of three Israeli Defence Force soldiers on 7 October 2000 across the Blue Line," Mr. Annan wrote. He noted that Israel and Lebanon had been offered the opportunity to view the tape, with the identities of non-UN personnel obscured.