Kin of abducted soldiers to meet U.N. chief

Family members of two abducted Israeli soldiers will meet the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to press for information about the soldiers’ whereabouts and well-being.”This is the highest authority to ask to get some information,” said Nachman Shai, senior vice president and director general of the United Jewish Communities’ Israel office. Shai, who will accompany the families of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev on Tuesday afternoon’s visit, said the soldiers’ whereabouts is a humanitarian issue and that Ban is capable of doing more. “They are not coming just to ask for a favor,” Shai said. “They would like to find out why the United Nations isn’t doing its best.”The families also will present a petition signed by some 50,000 people, part of a campaign led by the UJC with 20 major American Jewish organizations. Earlier Tuesday, the families took part in a Washington rally coinciding with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs plenum. They will return to the capital Wednesday for meetings with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other congressional leaders before returning to Israel.