Sweden supports the Goldstone Commission's report into Operation Cast Lead, the country's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said Thursday.
Bildt told reporters in Stockholm that South African judge Richard Goldstone was a person with "high credibility" and "high integrity" and that his report carries weight. He said the probe, which alleged that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during last winter's Israel offensive against Gaza, is worthy of consideration.
He added the right place for deliberations about the report was the UN Human Rights Council.
Earlier Thursday, Bildt told Swedish Radio that Israel made "a mistake" by not cooperating with the probe, which he called "independent" and "serious."
Sweden currently holds the rotating 6-month presidency of the European Union.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman called Bildt's remarks "disappointing," and said they demonstrated his "lack of reading comprehension skills," since anyone who read the report would know that it was biased.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday rejected Libya's request to hold a special session on the Goldstone report, but agreed to advance its periodical meeting on the Middle East to October 14 and focus on the war crimes allegations. The meeting was originally scheduled for October 20.
Most of the council's members were against discussing the report until the UN Human Rights Council reached a joint agreement on its recommendations on the topic.
In a surprise move earlier Wednesday, the UN Security Council met behind closed doors at the behest of Libyan diplomats, who requested an emergency session to discuss the report. The request - supported by Palestinian officials - upsets a fragile agreement achieved less than a week ago at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva which delayed action on the Goldstone Report until at least March.
