May 4, 2002	Saturday	Safar 20, 1423

GENEVA, May 3: A member of a United Nations team appointed to probe Israel’s assault on Jenin refugee camp blamed loss of support from the major powers for the collapse of the mission.

Cornelio Sommaruga said on Friday he regretted the team had been barred from carrying out an investigation which he said could have made a “contribution to a certain detente in the region”.

“In the last eight days there have been a number of events in the Middle East which have detracted (from) the interest of most members of the Security Council from the deployment of our fact-finding team,” Sommaruga said at a news conference in Geneva, where the team had gathered in vain.

He cited negotiations over guerillas holed up in Bethlehem’s Nativity Church on the West Bank, the end of the siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah, and news that Washington was preparing for a Middle East conference this summer.

But the former president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said journalists and human rights groups had done a good job of uncovering what happened in the Jenin camp and he felt that Israel probably had “nothing to hide”.

The UN team, named by Secretary General Kofi Annan on April 22, was disbanded on Thursday after being refused the go-ahead by Israel, following more than a week of negotiations in New York and despite the Jewish state’s initial approval.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari was to have led the mission. Sadako Ogata, ex-head of the U.N. refugee agency was a leading member of the 27-member team, rounded out by anti-terror and military experts, added at Israel’s request.

Asked whether he felt that the mission had been sacrificed, Sommaruga replied: “Clearly, one can expect anything in politics”.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally which voted in favour of the Security Council resolution backing the probe, has said it regretted the collapse of the investigation but had no alternative proposals.

Sommaruga said the frustrated U.N. team had written to Annan calling for international monitors to protect Palestinian and Israeli civilians caught up in the 19-month conflict.

“We have written to the Secretary-General this morning calling for a more marked presence of appropriate international personnel in the Palestinian refugee camps which would contribute to protect the civilian populations on both sides,” Sommaruga said.

He did not say how the monitors would protect Israel.

Sommaruga said Israeli political and military officials had feared any testimony gathered by the team from Israeli soldiers could be used in future international criminal proceedings.

But he declared that the U.N. team had been willing to ignore identities in its search to establish the truth.

“We said that we would conduct interviews anonymously without mentioning their identities, even in our notes,” he said. “It was put clearly, even in writing, by the secretary-general.”

white house: The White House said on Friday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s role in the Middle East peace process remained an open question and that Palestinian people “deserved better” leadership.

“The president does believe that the Palestinian people deserve better,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. He had been asked whether President George W. Bush believed the Palestinian Authority under Arafat had failed to deliver good government.

The White House on Friday confirmed that Bush would meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday as part of his efforts to meet with leaders in the region on resolving the Middle East conflict.

He also is to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday.

But Bush’s refusal to meet Arafat showed no sign of ending. Washington remains wary of Arafat, whom Bush said last week had failed to earn his respect.

Asked whether Arafat remained an essential part of the peace process, Fleischer said, “I think that remains to be seen. That’s up to Yasser Arafat.”

“Obviously, we are continuing to work with Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian Authority. That does not change,” he said. “It’s Yasser Arafat’s dedication in action, not just word, to helping achieve peace is something the president is measuring and watching.”—Reuters