KOFI CLARIFIES: I DON'T YET KNOW IF JEWS LIED

Annan retracts remarks on IDF’s Gaza blast probe
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan retracted remarks he made on Israel after the incident in which seven Palestinian family members died in Gaza. Annan said Israel’s position on the incident is “very strange.” Following a meeting Thursday with Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Gillerman, he told reporters that he had responded to “media speculations.” Annan added that he is waiting for Israel’s final report on the incident. Israel officials condemned Annan’s comments which came in response to a journalist’s question about Israel’s findings: “Finding an explosive device on the beach is strange.” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ordered Gillerman to protest Annan’s comments during their meeting on Thursday.

Gillerman told Annan that Israeli citizens are under a daily threat from Qassam attacks and Israel has the right to defend its citizens. In a press conference after the meeting, Annan said: “I responded to speculations in the press. The answer was given before Israel published its findings. We need to wait for Israel to publish its final report.”

SEE ALSO: UN Secretary General's Clarification on Gaza Beach Incident (United Nations)
The office of the UN Secretary General provided the Daily Alert with a different version of Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement about the IDF investigation of the Gaza beach incident than that originally cited by Al-Hayat. Mr. Annan's office specifically stated that he did not propose a UN investigation into the incident. His official spokesman denied the claim conveyed in the report from Albawaba in Jordan that Mr. Annan was sending a special envoy to the region to investigate Palestinian claims.