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Annan Regrets Lapses in Videotape Handling
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday expressed regret over U.N. "lapses" in assessment and communication over the handling of videotapes linked with the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers by Lebanese resistance group Hizbollah last October.
Annan's comment came after his deputy Joseph Connor issued an internal investigation report on the matter, which said the U.N. did not intentionally mislead Israel and the probe did not find any videotape of the actual abduction.
Connor, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Management, denied any cover-up by the United Nations of the existence and content of the events on October 7, when the abduction took place and on the day after, but admitted that U.N. officials at the headquarters and in the field made mistakes in inadequate information and miscommunication between the U.N. and member states.
"It is clear that serious errors on judgment were made, in particular by those who failed to convey information to the Israelis which would have been helpful in an assessment of the condition of the three abducted soldiers," according to a statement attributable to Annan's spokesman.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan repeated his offer to show to Israel and Lebanon an edited version of the tape made on October 8, which recorded the retrieval of two vehicles abandoned by Hizbollah. U.N. field officials did not inform the headquarters of the existence of the tape as "they did not consider it to be of primary importance".
Eckhard said U.N. chief will take administrative measures to avoid miscommunication through the tightening-up of procedures for handling sensitive information in the U.N. system.
Annan also extends an offer to cover another videotape made on October 7 at a location away from the place of abduction, which lower-ranking U.N. officials did not consider significant "in operational terms" and did not report to the U.N. headquarters in New York.
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