Wednesday, November 29, 2006

UN appoints Tutu to head Beit Hanoun inquiry


Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu named to head a United Nations fact-finding mission to Gaza town 'to recommend means to protect Palestinian civilians, assess situation of victims' of Israeli strike

Associated Press

"Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu has been named to head a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, where 19 civilians were killed by an Israeli artillery barrage earlier this month, UN officials said Wednesday.

The South African anti-apartheid campaigner and former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town will travel to Gaza to "assess the situation of victims, address the needs of survivors, and make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli assaults," according to the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Luis Alfonso De Alba.

The mission will report its findings to the Geneva-based body by mid-December, the statement said.

Tutu chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the end of white rule. "

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