NEW YORK - Israel prevented United Nations investigators from speaking with Israel Defense Forces commanders who were involved in the bombing of a UNIFIL outpost in South Lebanon during the war, according to a UN report released Friday.

The July 25 attack, which killed four UN military observers, led to mutual recriminations between UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Israel. Annan initially claimed the UN post was deliberately targeted by the air force, but after protests by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, that claim was withdrawn.

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The conclusions of the UN probe are couched in ambiguous terms. It noted that the Israeli authorities accepted full responsibility for the attack on the UN post at Khiyam and apologized for the "operational-level" mistake, but also claimed that the board of inquiry "did not have access to operational- or tactical-level IDF commanders involved in the incident and was, therefore, unable to determine why the attacks on the UN position were not halted, despite repeated demarches to the Israeli authorities from UN personnel." A senior Western diplomat in New York told Haaretz yesterday that "the vague wording expresses the secretary-general's desire to end the matter and avoid dragging on the discussion."

The probe said that a 500-kilogram guided bomb destroyed the post, and that Israel conducted 21 sorties the same day and dropped bombs 300 meters from the post.