Israel demands U.N. abduction tape

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The United Nations has admitted it is in possession of a video containing information about the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers.

Israel is demanding that the tape, showing the aftermath of the abduction on the Lebanese border last October, is handed over.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said the U.N. has previously denied the tape's existence

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the Associated Press news agency: "A few days ago a U.N. representative approached me, and begging forgiveness, told me that they are in possession of the cassette."

Ben-Eliezer said he has written a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, demanding the tape be handed over.

It is said to have been filmed 18 hours after the abduction of the three soldiers on October 7, Timor Goksel, spokesman for U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon, said.

EXTRA INFORMATION Mideast struggle for peace     MORE STORIES U.N. envoy: U.S. has failed to 'cool off' Mideast

It contains footage of abandoned vehicles the Iran-backed Hezbollah guerrillas used in the attack, he said.

Goksel said he had not considered the tape important, because it was made many hours after the abduction.

Two still photos, said to be from the tape, were shown on Israel television on Thursday.

They showed the two vehicles, including a white Toyota four-wheel-drive car similar to those used by the U.N. in south Lebanon. The other vehicle was black. Neither had U.N. insignia.

Inside the vehicles, U.N. peacekeepers found U.N. insignia, uniforms and license plates along with weapons and explosives, Goksel said.

At the time of the abduction, Israeli media reported that the rebels used U.N. vehicles and uniforms in the operation.

Hezbollah has refused to provide information regarding the welfare of the soldiers, Red Cross official Rene Kosirnik said on Israel television Thursday. Kosirnik said he had met recently with Hezbollah representatives.

After an 18-year-long guerrilla war against Hezbollah, Israel withdrew its forces from South Lebanon on May 24, 2000.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet his French counterpart Lionel Jospin on Friday.

The talks come after a meeting with French president Jacques Chirac in Paris where Sharon was given a cool reception and warned against being too critical of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

On the streets of the French capital hundreds of protesters carried banners denouncing Sharon for his alleged role in the 1982 Sabra and Chatila massacres in southern Lebanon.

Sharon is being investigated for war crimes by prosecutors in Belgium in connection with the killings. He denies any involvement in the massacres

Sharon has already visited Germany, in a brief European tour aimed at defusing European anger over his policies and hoping to win support for his country's handling of the current conflict with Palestinians.

Kofi Annan called on Israel to stop what have become known as 'targeted assassinations' of Palestinian militants, saying on Thursday the practice violates international law.

In a statement, Annan's spokesman said the secretary-general was "deeply disturbed" by the Israeli government's decision to continue the practice that "contradicts the spirit, if not the letter" of the ceasefire negotiated by CIA Director George Tenent.

Annan urged both sides to reject violence, adhere to security agreements already reached and work toward implementing the recommendations of the Mitchell report.