Prime Minister Olmert called UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and expressed Israel’s great regret for the mistaken killing of the four UNIFIL soldiers in Lebanon. The PM said that he will instruct the IDF to conduct an in-depth investigation of the incident and will share its findings with the Secretary General.
Olmert also expressed his reservation at the Secretary General’s statement that the Israeli action was premeditated. “It is inconceivable,” said Olmert to Annan, “that this mistake would be considered by the UN as an intentional act.”
Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman said he was astonished at the poor and unfortunate statement made by Annan, and called him to apologize for it. “The statement was probably made out of great frustration, but we cannot just ignore it.”