The late half-excuse half-apology comes after a state of denial on the part of Israel, who initially tried to blame the U.N. and Hezbollah for their own wrongdoing.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that the document, which it said was presented to military attaches and ambassadors from the countries of the victims, put the bombing down to insufficient planning and negligent conduct.

"Since the operational headquarters responsible for the Al-Khiam sector was charged with the sector on short notice, the necessary preparations for the operation in Al-Khiam were performed in an abbreviated process," the memo was quoted as saying, referring to the southern Lebanese town where the U.N. post was hit.

As a result, the manual aids which list potential targets erroneously presented the U.N. outpost as an enemy position for Hizbullah, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"Aerial forces attacking targets in Al-Khiam knew only the coordinates of the targets and that they had been identified as legitimate targets by the planning authorities... in accordance with IDF (Israel Defense Force) targeting policy," it quoted the document as saying.

The Jerusalem Post said the document made no reference to U.N. claims that observers stationed at the post called Israeli liaison officers on 10 different occasions after the outpost was shelled 14 times.

Deliberate Attack?

Annan said the attack took place "despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared Israeli fire."

"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," Annan said from Rome.

The bomb made a direct hit on the building and shelter of the observer post (pictured right) in the town Khiyam near the eastern end of the border with Israel, said Milos Struger, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL. Canada is not a member of UNIFIL.

Last September, the United Nations said its post had been struck by a precision-guided bomb, saying Israel had accepted responsibility and apologized for an "operational level mistake."

However Daniel Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., called Annan's reaction "deplorable." He retracted the Israeli apology and attempted to discredit the UN by saying the observers were caught in crossfire between Hezbollah and Israel.

The killing of the four U.N. observers -- an Austrian, a Canadian, a Finn and a Chinese man -- had drawn strong condemnation from U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

The air strike occurred during the 34 war in July and August between Israel and Hizbullah.

Speaking to Canadian television in September, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev also said a map used by artillery had identified the clearly marked U.N. post as a Hizbullah base.

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet