U.N. Worker Phoned Israeli Before Death 1 hour, 50 minutes ago

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - A United Nations worker killed in the Jenin refugee camp during an Israeli-Palestinian clash phoned an Israeli army officer minutes before he was fatally shot and said Palestinians were trying to break into the U.N. compound, according to a tape released by the military Tuesday.

Iain Hook, British senior manager for UNRWA, the U.N. body that helps Palestinian refugees, was killed by Israeli gunfire Friday. The circumstances of his death are an issue of hot dispute.

Israel says its troops were returning fire that came from inside the U.N. compound. The officer who received Hook's phone message said the recording supports Israel's assertion that there were Palestinian gunmen within the compound's 8-foot-high wall.

The Palestinians and U.N. officials, however, deny that any armed Palestinians were in the compound. After the release of the tape Tuesday, UNWRA said gunmen had tried to enter but Hook convinced them to leave.

Hook "became aware that some armed men were attempting to gain entry to the UNRWA compound in Jenin. He approached them and told them that they were endangering his staff and jeopardizing the neutrality of the U.N. site. The armed militants then left the area. At no time did they gain access to the compound," UNWRA said in a statement out of New York.

Paul McCann, a U.N. spokesman, called the allegations that Palestinians were inside the compound "incredible."

The Israeli military says soldiers returning fire targeted Hook, believing mistakenly that the cell phone he was holding was a weapon.

In a voice mail received by Capt. Peter Lerner, the military's liaison with international groups, a person identifying himself as "Iain" says that Palestinian youths "have knocked a hole in the wall" and says he is "trying to keep them out." The caller uses the Arabic word "shabab," which means young men.

Lerner provided the tape of the voice mail message to The Associated Press late Tuesday, almost five days after Hook's death.

"This does not prove that we are innocent," Lerner admitted, but he said it lent credence to the Israeli assertion that Palestinian gunmen had entered the compound.

Lerner's voice mail service automatically dated the call at 12:53 p.m. on Friday, less than an hour before Hook was shot and killed.

"Hi Peter, it's Iain here," the caller said. "I'm just making a progress report, really. We're pinned down in the compound. The shabab have knocked a hole in the wall, which I'm not happy about at all. I'm trying to keep them out, and I will just keep my people pinned down in the corner until I hear from you. OK? Over."

Then the automated voice mail service gave the number of the phone from which the call was made. A call late Tuesday by the AP to the number was answered by another UNRWA official, apparently British, who refused to respond to questions.

UNRWA officials in the West Bank and Gaza were not available for comment about the tape recording.

Earlier Tuesday, before the tape's release, Rene Aquarone, an UNWRA spokeswoman in Geneva, said Hook was shot in the back while he was trying to arrange for the evacuation of U.N. staff. She said the Israelis prevented an ambulance from reaching the scene for some time.

"We feel there is a lack of respect and a disdain vis a vis the framework in which we and others render humanitarian assistance," she said.

Lerner said he talked to Hook at least three times during the shootout. Hook asked when the firefight would be over, and Lerner said he would let him know.

Lerner said that the Israeli military is conducting a complete investigation of the incident, but complained that the United Nations has not allowed the army to talk to other international workers at the UNRWA compound in the Jenin camp.

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2002