AUSTRIA'S NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL URGED THE UNITED NATIONS AND ISRAEL ON FRIDAY TO INVESTIGATE THE SHELLING OF A U.N. OBSERVATION POST IN SOUTHERN LEBANON THAT KILLED AN AUSTRIAN AND THREE OTHER MONITORS, AP REPORTED. CHANCELLOR WOLFGANG SCHUESSEL TOLD STATE BROADCASTER ORF THAT THE TWO INQUIRIES WERE NEEDED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE DEATHS WERE ACCIDENTAL, AS ISRAEL HAS CLAIMED, OR WHETHER THE OUTPOST WAS DELIBERATELY TARGETED. AUSTRIA IS DEMANDING THAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES BE CLARIFIED «TO THE FULLEST EXTENT,» PARLIAMENT SPEAKER ANDREAS KHOL TOLD REPORTERS AFTER THE COUNCIL MET TO REVIEW THE CRISIS IN LEBANON. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED AFTER THE SEPT. 11 2001 ATTACKS TO ADVISE THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT ON FOREIGN AND MILITARY POLICY, DISCUSSED THE PROS AND CONS OF AUSTRIA'S POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING FORCE, BUT DID NOT MAKE ANY FORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS TO SCHUESSEL'S CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT, AUSTRIAN MEDIA REPORTED.
