Word: probe
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Rarely does a human-rights investigation cause the kind of geopolitical ruckus that has been generated by the U.N. probe into last winter's fighting in Gaza that left more than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. Israel is mounting an 11th hour diplomatic blitz to scupper U.N. discussion of the Human Rights Council investigation led by South African judge Richard Goldstone, which accuses the Israeli army and Palestinian Hamas militants of committing war crimes. Israel insists the probe is biased and, in the words of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, "twisted, fraudulent and tendentious." At a Security Council meeting...
...Palestinian side, furor over the report battered the already weak government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, after he initially heeded pressure from the U.S. to squelch U.N. discussion of the report. The Obama Administration was mindful of Israel's concerns and reluctant to allow the Goldstone probe to distract from its efforts to restart the peace process. Under a firestorm of criticism, not least from within his own Fatah party, Abbas reversed himself and pressed for U.N. discussion of Goldstone. (See pictures of the 2009 conflict in Gaza...
...tapped Goldstone to head the probe in the hope that his impeccable credentials at the head of tribunals investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda - as well as the fact that he is Jewish, is said by those close to him to be a friend of Israel, and is a trustee of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - would make him acceptable to the Israeli side. Goldstone only agreed to head the inquiry after the U.N. heeded his insistence on expanding the probe to include not only allegations of Israeli war crimes, but also the actions of Palestinian militants...
...that line is proving a tough sell. Britain is one of Israel's staunchest allies, yet the British ambassador to the U.N., John Sawers, described Goldstone on Israeli Army Radio as "unbiased." The ambassador added that the probe contains "serious information" giving rise to suspicions that both sides in the conflict committed war crimes. And the U.S., Britain and France on Wednesday all urged Israel to launch a credible investigation into Goldstone's findings...
Government soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians in the Guinean capital, Conakry, killing at least 157 people and wounding some 1,200, in addition to raping women, witnesses say. The U.N. called for an independent probe into the massacre, which came as protesters denounced military leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who seized power in a 2008 coup...