Israel has been cooperating with UN relief agencies in ongoing discussions on how to provide aid to civilians affected by the fighting in Lebanon, United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said today. He said he hoped that Israel would continue to cooperate with international relief agencies when it came to implementing the distribution of relief supplies.
The UN official said that contrary to reports from heads of international agencies that Israel was impeding distribution efforts, these agencies were in fact receiving “the cooperation of all parties” in discussing relief measures. Perez de Cuellar also reported that he might meet with Palestine Liberation Organization official Farouk Kaddoumi, who is expected here tomorrow.
Perez de Cuellar said that the UN must “rethink the whole concept” of peacekeeping forces, noting that this is not the first time military forces have bypassed UN forces. But he said that Israel did not shoot at UN forces. “They tried to bypass UN forces.”
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