— Photographic enlargements of the bodies of five terrorists killed by Israeli forces in south Lebanon Dec.25 have led senior United Nations officers to admit they were wrong in accepting the allegations by some troops under their command that Israeli soldiers had mutilated the bodies.
UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim set up a commission of inquiry to look into the matter after Israel vigorously denied the charges made by Dutch troops of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The evidence against Israel was a photograph of the bodies made three days after the incident with a telescopic lens at a distance of about one kilometer. It showed only three bodies and was taken to substantiate the charge that the other two bodies had been burned and mutilated with explosives.
The photograph was shown to Israeli officers at a meeting last Friday between Gen. Emmanuel Erskine, the UNIFIL commander, his deputy, Brig, Gen. Odegaard and the Israeli commander of the northern region, Gen. Avigdor Ben-Gal, accompanied by his aides. Ben-Gal asked for an immediate enlargement of the photo. When this was examined by the officers a short time later, all five bodies were visible, none showing signs of burns or mutilation.
Israel army sources said Odegaard admitted he may have been too hasty in accepting the allegations of the Dutch troops without further investigation. But UN sources expressed surprise at the admission and said they would await the findings of the investigating commission.
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