March 27, 2006

Israel says UN agrees to help Palestinians against bird flu

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni appealed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Friday for international assistance to help the Palestinians fight the recent outbreak of the deadly bird flu, Israel's Foreign Ministry said.

In response, Annan told Livni in their phone conversation that he would call on the World Health Organization to lend support to Palestinian agriculture and health officials in their fight against the flu, the Foreign Ministry statement said.

The appeal for aid came a day after Livni called World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to express Israel's concern over the ability of the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to stop the spread of the flu. Israel feared that without international involvement, the Palestinian Authority would not take the immediate steps needed to limit the flu's spread, Livni told Wolfowitz.

Bird flu was discovered in Israeli villages not far from the Gaza Strip last week. Almost one million birds have been culled in Israel. An outbreak of bird flu was disclosed in Gaza Wednesday.

In all, bird flu has been detected at two farms in the Gaza Strip, one near Gaza City and one near the southern town of Rafah on the border with Egypt, said Deputy Agriculture Minister Azzam Tubaili of the Palestinian Authority.

Thursday, Israel's Defense Ministry granted permission for the Palestinians to bring poison into Gaza to cull infected chickens, security officials said.