Israel has boycotted its contacts with the international commission set up to investigate the outbreak of the Intifada, reported Haaretz newspaper.
According to the paper, Israel protested the visit of the technical team of the commission to al-Haram al-Sharif without prior clearance from Israeli authorities, and is demanding the commission get a new mandate from new US President George Bush before contacts are renewed.
The director-general of the foreign ministry, Alon Liel, met Sunday with members of the technical team, headed by former US ambassador, Larry Pope, and told them the government viewed the visit to the site as "a grave violation of trust and a serious hitch."
Liel added that that Israel would renew contacts with the commission only after high-level talks with the new Bush administration in Washington.
Former US senator, George Mitchell, who served as mediator in North Ireland peace talks, heads over the panel.
The other panel members include former US senator, Warren Rudman, Turkish former president, Suleyman Demirel, EU foreign and security policy chief, Javier Solana, and Norway's foreign minister, Thorbjorn Jagland -- Albawaba.com
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