THE Israeli artillery attack which killed 102 Lebanese civilians sheltering in the UN base at Qana was filmed by a UN soldier from an armoured personnel carrier outside the base at the time.
According to UN sources, the original camcorder tape of the incident and two copies, made by a Norwegian soldier, have been handed over to the UN investigators due to report to UN Secretary General, Dr Boutros BoutrosGhali, this week.
UN investigators are making no comment until the report is handed to Dr Ghali. It is not known if the findings will be made public.
Sources here say the soldier videoed events from the top of an APC on high ground overlooking the Fiji Battalion headquarters in Qana. Six shells struck two unprotected buildings where local people sought safety from the two week bombardment by Israeli aircraft and artillery.
During the two weeks the Israelis carried out 559 air attacks, dropped 1,439 bombs and fired more than 24,000 artillery, mortar and tank shells, killing 155 people.
Hizbullah guerrillas in south Lebanon fired around 600 Katyusha rockets into northern Israel during the same period, causing a reported 30 to 50 injuries but no deaths.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Barrett, visits Irish troops who served throughout the Israeli bombardment today. He will also visit the Fiji Battalion headquarters where the civilian massacre took place.
Most of the estimated 400,000 Lebanese civilians displaced by the bombardment returned here at the weekend many found their homes demolished.
Hundreds of unexploded Israeli bombs and shells, which UN ordnance officers must dismantle, are causing major concern. Irish Army ordnance crews were yesterday beginning to detonate unexploded bombs and clear shells from their battalion area.
. The C Company section of the Irish Battalion area - covering the villages of Shaqra, Brashit and Jimey Jimay - was most seriously affected by the Israeli bombardment. Yesterday the company commander, Comdt Padraig Moran, showed journalists piles of shrapnel from artillery shells which had exploded around his camp where 125 soldiers were on duty throughout the bombardment.