Team to escort observer's remains back home
(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2006-07-27 15:54
UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown and Lute herself then made
several calls to Israel's UN mission "reiterating these protests and calling for
an abatement of the shelling," Lute said.
UN officials said the observation position was well marked. A picture the
world body released Wednesday showed the three-story building was painted white
with the letters "UN" emblazoned in large black letters on all sides, and a
light blue UN flag hung from a nearby flagpole that was roughly 50 feet high.
Witnesses said the building, which was surrounded by concrete blast walls and
barbed wire, also had the letters UN painted on the roof and it was illuminated
by floodlights at night.
During the shelling, the observers took refuge in a bomb shelter designed to
withstand a strike by a 155mm artillery shell, UN officials said. The bunker
collapsed in the attack, and the extent of the damage suggests it was hit with a
large bomb, said Brig. Gen. J.P. Nehra, the deputy force commander for the UN
peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants began two weeks ago,
there have been several dozen incidents of firing close to UN peacekeepers and
observers, including direct hits on nine positions, some of them repeatedly, a
UN official said. As a result of these attacks, 12 UN personnel have been killed
or injured, UN officials said.
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