UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has voiced support for the head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, accused by Israel of being partisan.
However, a spokesman for the secretary-general Monday also said Annan was launching an investigation by a U.N. team that will leave New York Tuesday and called in Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman.
Annan wanted to inquire about evidence supporting Israel's allegations an UNRWA ambulance driver was photographed by an Israeli Defense Forces drone loading a Kassam rocket into his vehicle.
UNRWA Director-General Peter Hansen also launched an immediate investigation and said the driver was carrying a folded stretcher.
Israel sought Hansen's removal.
As to allegations UNRWA hired members of Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization, but which also does social work, Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said the United Nations does not ask staff about their political affiliations.
However, he said it requires all staff to conduct themselves with appropriate practices and principles. If any U.N. staff member were involved in any illegal activity, he said, the United Nations would respond quickly by taking disciplinary and legal action.
