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 U.N. investigator quits, sees Middle East explosion
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GENEVA 
  The U.N. investigator who probes alleged human rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied territories announced Friday he was resigning, saying support for the endangered Middle East peace process outweighed his task. 
 Rene Felber, a former Swiss foreign minister and president, also appealed to the parties in the region to avoid a collapse of negotiations which would lead to an ``explosion'' there. 
 He was addressing the U.N. Human Rights Commission after issuing a controversial report which shocked the 53-member body this week with its plea to end his mandate begun two years ago. 
 His resignation announcement came a day after Israel and the Palestinians agreed at a four-nation summit in Cairo to press on with their self-rule agreements. The deals have been threatened by disputes, including the building of more Jewish settlements and Islamic militant attacks on Israeli targets. 
 ``I am afraid the peace process is crumbling and the Israeli government will fall. It is the last moment,'' Felber told reporters. ``The only plausible solution to me is to choose a political alternative and to renounce my mandate.'' 
 His report, based on a visit to Israel and the territories last October, accused the Jewish state of continuing to mistreat Palestinian prisoners and of abusing scarce water resources. 
 ``I don't question the Commission's efforts and the necessity of publicly denouncing human rights' violations. This is useful and needed in most cases,'' Felber, who said he had yet to formally submit his written resignation to the Geneva-based Commission, told a news conference. 
 ``But there is a major difference between Israel and the occupied territories and other cases in the world, because in the occupied territories an alternative exists -- a political alternative and the process is already under way.'' 
 Felber called for massive support for the peace process leading to a withdrawal of Israeli forces and full autonomy, adding: ``That is the way for progress to come about. Otherwise, there will undoubtedly be an explosion.'' 
 His report described Ketziot detention camp in the Negev desert in Israeli territory, which holds 85 Palestinians, as a ``training center for the war against the Israeli occupiers.'' 
 He said Friday that former inmates had committed three recent attacks on Israeli targets, including a bloody suicide attack on a Tel Aviv bus last October in which 22 people died. 
 Felber left no doubt that he was stepping down on a point of principle. ``It was clear in my report that I won't continue under these conditions,'' he told reporters. 
 ``I personally don't want to come back every year for the next five, six or seven years and say human rights are still not being respected and I can't see any true improvement and at the same time watch as the peace process makes no headway.'' 
 Israeli diplomats and the U.S. human rights delegation led by former New York Democratic congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, have backed Felber's case for ending his mandate. Washington, the driving force behind the Arab-Israeli dialog, has been a long-term critic of the Commission for its ritual condemnations of Israel each year. 

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REUTERS __ 02/03/95 10:26

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