Israel Blames Map Error for Un Deaths in Bombing

The Israeli military yesterday blamed "human error" made during the duplication of maps for the bombing of a UN post in southern Lebanon in July, in which four unarmed international observers were killed during the conflict with Hizbullah.

The UN post, a white building on a hilltop in Khiyam, was wrongly identified as a Hizbullah position, the military concluded in a confidential report, according to Mark Regev, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman. In the report Israel expressed "deepest condolences and sincere regret", he said. "There was a mishap on the Israeli side where in duplication of maps, the UN position on the maps was not marked as it should have been, and that created the tragedy," Mr Regev said.

Four observers, from China, Austria, Finland and Canada, were killed when an Israeli plane dropped a bomb, thought to be precision-guided, on the building on July 26.

Although Israel offered its regrets at the time, the attack provoked international condemnation. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, described it as an "apparently deliberate targeting". Mr Annan's remark angered the Israeli government, but UN diplomats said yesterday he had no intention of backing away from his comment. One of the diplomats said: "I see no reason for him to do so. On the contrary, this report confirms what he said. It is a mea culpa on the part of the Israelis."

A UN internal inquiry, which is expected to be hard-hitting, is due to be published within a week. The Israeli report was passed to the UN investigation team earlier this week and yesterday to the ambassadors and military attaches of the four countries involved, but it was not made public.

The UN post had been there since 1948 and had clear markings. UN staff said they had contacted the Israelis at least 14 times that day asking them to stop bombing the area. One call came from UN deputy secretary general, Mark Malloch Brown.

Mr Regev, who saw the report, said it described how the Israeli military had planned a ground operation in the area near the Khiyam post because there were Hizbullah positions there. "We notified them that there was going to be an operation in the area," he said.

There was a Hizbullah position 180 metres from the UN post, he said. Mr Regev acknowledged that UN calls had been received. In response, artillery fire had been halted, but not aerial attacks.