UNITED NATIONS, April 26: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan wants his fact-finding mission on the Jenin refugee camp to be in the region by Saturday, as planned, a spokesman said on Friday, appearing to dismiss Israel’s demand for a delay.

Annan believed UN-Israeli talks aimed at clarifying the mission’s scope and membership were “going reasonably well”, UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard quoted him as saying.

“We are giving them the appropriate clarifications and I do expect the team to leave tomorrow. I don’t think there’s any reason for further delay,” Annan was quoted as saying.

The UN leader has been insisting the team arrive in the Middle East by Saturday to begin finding out what happened during Israel’s three-week assault on the Palestinian West Bank camp.

Israel had initially welcomed the mission, then threatened to block it, apparently fearing any conclusions would add to a worldwide outcry at the devastation in the West Bank camp.

Israel now says the mission’s scope needed clarification before work could begin.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office earlier on Friday said Israel had asked that the U.N. team “be held back until the points of dispute are discussed and settled”.

The Israeli statement said an unspecified document it had seen was incompatible with a Security Council resolution approved last Friday welcoming the mission.

The resolution described the mission as an “initiative of the secretary-general to develop accurate information regarding recent events in the Jenin refugee camp through a fact-finding team”.

The Israeli-UN talks that began on Thursday aimed at clarifying the mission resumed on Friday before breaking off again less than an hour later.

Undersecretary-General Kieran Prendergast said Israel had asked for the pause to consult officials back home.

“The talks are constructive. There will be something said when they are concluded,” Prendergast told reporters.

Diplomats said the Israeli delegation in New York had told its U.N. counterparts it did not want “a sword” dangling over its head — in the form of the Saturday deadline — while details of the mission were being worked out.—Reuters