"92 violations of the settlement freeze
A UN panel to probe the Israeli raid on the aid flotilla
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has established a four-member panel to probe Israels deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla after the Israelis, in a surprising U-turn, decided to back the investigation. The May 31 Israeli commando raid killed nine Turkish activists and sparked a deep crisis in Israels already strained relations with Ankara, once close allies.
Ban’s four-member panel, to be chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and with outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as vice chairman, will include one Israeli and one Turk.
The identities of the Turk and the Israeli were not given, but the panel is due to begin work on August 10 and submit a first progress report by mid-September.
Israel’s decision to back the panel was unexpected as it had for weeks insisted it would not cooperate with any international probe and instead launched two internal inquiries.
The about-turn followed contacts and consultations with a seven-member Israeli ministerial forum to ensure that “this was indeed a panel with a balanced and fair written mandate”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Israel has nothing to hide. The opposite is true”, the Israeli leader said. “It is in the national interest of the state of Israel to ensure that the factual truth of the overall flotilla events comes to light throughout the world and this is exactly the principle that we are advancing”.
Turkey and the United States both hailed the UN probe."
More:492 violations of the settlement freeze<BR> A UN panel to probe the Israeli raid on the aid flotilla