U.N. delays Jenin mission after Israel raises concerns

Palestinians search through rubble in the Jenin refugee camp last week.

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan late Tuesday agreed to delay the departure of a U.N. fact-finding team to investigate the battle in the West Bank town of Jenin after Israel raised concerns about the mission.

The 24-hour delay came after a meeting between Annan and Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry.

Israel wants the team to include military and counterterrorism experts. It is sending two or three representatives to meet at the United Nations with the fact-finding team later this week, a meeting that could come Thursday.

"The secretary-general agreed to postpone the departure of the fact-finding team to allow this consultation to take place, but he expects the team to be in the Middle East by this Saturday," a statement from Annan's office said.

"While he would not discuss his choice of team members, he did not rule out adding additional experts as might be deemed necessary," it said.

The five-member U.N. team was initially scheduled to arrive Friday, sources familiar with the plans told CNN.

Lancry said he asked Annan "to defer, delay the activities of the team until a round of clarification" could be held. He said Israel believes a "more balanced" team is needed that would include military and counterterrorism experts as "full-fledged members."

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Israel also wants the team to investigate the Palestinian terror activity within Jenin, not just the fighting there.

"We believe the mandate of the fact-finding team should also cover not only the military activity of Israel, but the terrorist network which has flourished in the Jenin refugee camp and which in fact generated the Israeli military operation," Lancry said.

Palestinian officials claim hundreds died in what they call a massacre at the Jenin camp during Israel's recent military incursion in the West Bank following a series of Palestinian terror attacks.

Israel vehemently denies the description, saying about 50 Palestinians were killed, and most of those were fighters. Israel lost 23 of its own soldiers in the fighting.

Israel warned against harming Arafat

The U.N. Security Council authorized the fact-finding team last Friday.

When Israel said Tuesday it would suspend cooperation with the team, the U.N. Security Council held a closed-door session after which its president, Russian U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, said it "reiterated its full support for the secretary-general."

Lavrov also said the Security Council warned Israel not to harm Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

"There must be no harm to him or others in the compound together with him. They reiterated that the siege must be lifted and Chairman Arafat must have full freedom of movement in order to carry out his function," he told reporters.

Palestinians were outraged that Israel sought a delay of the investigation.

"We thought that the Israeli side had nothing to hide. Obviously they do," said Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian permanent observer to the United Nations.

He said the "facts" had already been established in Jenin: "The camp was mostly or completely obliterated."

Israelis feared being 'set up'

Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with other officials Tuesday and agreed to suspend cooperation with the U.N. team because they said Annan did not consult with them about the composition of the team and because he changed the terms of reference they had agreed upon.

Israelis concluded there was a desire to "set up" Israel, the sources said.

"We have nothing to hide," said Alan Baker, legal adviser to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "We are perfectly prepared to cooperate, but we need a very clear set of terms of reference of this fact-finding team.

"We can't just let things move and be extended without clearly understanding, between Israel and the United Nations, exactly what this team is going to do," Baker said.

The head of the U.N. team, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, said earlier in the day he expected full cooperation from both sides.

He said he expected to meet first with Israeli officials and then Palestinian leaders, and said a meeting with Arafat is sure to be "in the cards."

"I have been asked to look into the whole Jenin question," Ahtisaari said. "What that work will require, I will do whatever is needed."

Other members of the team are Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and Cornelio Sommaruga, former head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Retired U.S. Maj. Gen. Bill Nash was to act as military adviser, and Peter Fitzgerald as a police adviser. Nash worked for the United Nations in Kosovo and commanded a multinational division in Bosnia. Fitzgerald has experience in Bosnia.