U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Congress Wednesday he has no evidence of an Israeli massacre of Palestinians at the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank.
"Clearly, innocent lives may well have been lost," Powell testified. But, he said, "I have no evidence of mass graves. I see no evidence that would support a massacre took place."
Powell said he based his assessment on a 3-hour inspection of the refugee camp Friday by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.
Burns subsequently reported a mass destruction by Israeli troops, who invaded the camp in the search for terrorists and explosives.
According TO AP, Powell said he spoke to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by phone Tuesday night and also to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, trying to clear the way for a fact-finding team. An Israeli delegation was headed to New York for consultations, as a result, on Israeli objections to the composition of the U.N. group.
At the same time, Powell said he told Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat while on a Mideast mission that he must do more to counter “terrorism.” "I made clear that if we don't see deeds, if we don't see action, there is not much we can do for him," Powell said.
Powell, testifying before the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, defended the Bush administration against an accusation by a senior Democratic senator that it blundered by moving slowly into the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Separating Powell himself from the accusation, Sen. Patrick Leahy D-Vt., the subcommittee chairman, said the administration had failed to move promptly in using U.S. diplomacy.
Israel’s Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Wednesday that Israel intends to cooperate with the U.N. team, but said it should not travel to the region until its composition and mandate was changed.
"We hope they will take into consideration our positions and they will fix things ... that they are coming to check not check only us but both sides," the defense minister said.
The Palestinians accused Israel of trying to hide wrongdoing during the fiercest fighting of Israel's West Bank campaign. "Israel wants to sabotage (the U.N.) mission," Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said. "I believe that these Israeli practices reflect one thing, that they have a big thing to hide."
The tensions between the world body and Israel were clear when the U.N. human rights chief submitted a report Wednesday calling for an independent investigation into violations committed by both sides.
The Israeli ambassador in Geneva denounced the report by Mary Robinson as biased because it lays "blame specifically on Israel" with only vague references to Palestinian suicide bombings. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
