The investigation will be led by former New Zealand Prime
Minister Geoffrey Palmer as chairman and outgoing Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe as vice chairman, Ban said in a statement. The panel also will have one
Israeli and one Turkish member, who were not identified.
The four-member group will start work on Aug. 10 and
submit its first progress report by mid-September, Ban said.
The storming of the Turkish-owned flotilla, which was
trying to run Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza, caused an international
outcry after Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American.
The action led to a sharp deterioration in
Israeli-Turkish relations and forced Israel to ease its Gaza blockade, which
the Jewish state says aims to prevent Hamas from acquiring military capacity to
attack Israel.
Ban's announcement came shortly after Israel, which has
already completed its own military investigation and begun a civilian one, said
it had decided to cooperate with Ban.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
office said he had told Ban on Monday of his agreement "following
diplomatic contacts over the past several weeks aimed at ensuring the panel and
its mandate will be fair and balanced."
Turkey welcomed the announcement. "From the beginning,
Turkey has demanded a UN-led international committee to investigate the raid
... As a result of Turkey's initiatives with the UN, the United States and
Europe, Israel has agreed to cooperate with the committee," a government
source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"This is a very important decision for Turkey,"
he added. "This committee is an important step in remedying the injustice
Turkey has encountered in the raid."
Ban, in his statement, called the launch of the panel
"an unprecedented development." He thanked the leaders of two
countries he had consulted with during the weekend — an apparent reference to
Israel and Turkey — "for their spirit of compromise and forward-looking
cooperation."
He said the panel would give recommendations for
preventing future incidents and hoped the agreement to open the inquiry would
help Turkish-Israeli ties.
