Secret UN report condemns US for Middle East failures

[struggle4progress]

Envoy's damning verdict revealed as violence takes Gaza closer to civil war

<pdf-file>:Read Alvaro de Soto's end of mission report

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ian Williams in New York
Wednesday June 13, 2007
The Guardian

The highest ranking UN official in Israel has warned that American pressure has "pummelled into submission" the UN's role as an impartial Middle East negotiator in a damning confidential report.

The 53-page "End of Mission Report" by Alvaro de Soto, the UN's Middle East envoy, obtained by the Guardian, presents a devastating account of failed diplomacy and condemns the sweeping boycott of the Palestinian government. It is dated May 5 this year, just before Mr de Soto stepped down. ~snip~

Mr de Soto acknowledges in the report that he is its sole author. It was meant only for senior UN officials, and its wording is far more critical than the public pronouncements of UN diplomats. Last night, Mr de Soto, who is in New York, told the Guardian: "It is a confidential document and not intended for publication." ~snip~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2101676,00.html