Israel: Cabinet blocks arrival of UN team, says conditions still not ripe

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio after the decision that if the matter comes before the UN Security Council, Israel could not count on the veto of the United States because the Americans were behind the original proposal. "We will be completely alone," he said. Israel's refusal so far to cooperate with the probe has left a three-man fact-finding team waiting in Geneva and further embarrassed Kofi Annan, who said 10 days ago he had received a green light for the mission from Israel, only to then face a series of Israeli objections over the team's composition and mandate.