DATE=6/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ / KILLING (L)
NUMBER=2-263847
BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT=
INTRO: A gunman has killed two workers in Baghdad at
the office of the U-N Food and Agriculture
Organization, F-A-O. Seven people were injured. As
Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from our Middle
East Bureau, a lone gunmen held about 40-staffers
hostage until Iraqi security forces stormed the
building, which is located near Baghdad University.
TEXT: The unidentified gunman burst into the F-A-O
office early in the day and began shooting. He was
reported to be carrying two machineguns and some
grenades.
Spokesman John Riddle told reporters at the F-A-O's
Rome headquarters that two staffers were killed and
three were wounded in the attack. Four security guards
were also injured.
/// RIDDLE ACT ///
We know only that the unidentified gunman took
people in the building hostage. The Iraqi
authorities decided to storm the building later
on, and we have two who were killed. One is an
international civil servant, a Somali national,
and the other was an Iraqi.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Riddle says the gunmen held more than 40 staffers
hostage for several hours until the Iraqi security
forces stormed the building to free them.
An F-A-O official in Baghdad told reporters the gunman
said he was protesting the U-N sanctions, which have
practically cut Iraq off from the international market
for the past 10-years.
The F-A-O office is one of the U-N missions in Baghdad
dealing with the distribution of food and medicine
under the U-N approved food-for-oil deal that allows
Iraq to sell oil in return for humanitarian supplies.
The F-A-O says there are no plans to evacuate the staff
from Baghdad. (SIGNED)
NEB/LMK/JWH/RAE
28-Jun-2000 12:15 PM EDT (28-Jun-2000 1615 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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