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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
IRAQ: United Nations to stay on despite deadly attack
ANKARA, 21 August 2003 (IRIN) - Declaring “the ache in our souls is almost too much to bear,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan sought today to console the grief of the United Nations family worldwide with a message of sheer determination to carry on undaunted by the deadly terrorist bombing on Tuesday of UN offices in Iraq.
“If there is one way to honour the memory of colleagues murdered in the line of duty, it is to carry on with our work, determined and undaunted,” Annan told a memorial meeting of staff at UN Headquarters in New York, transmitted live by videoconference to UN offices around the world.
“The United Nations will not be reckless. Nor, however, will it be intimidated. The service of the UN is not simply a job. It is a calling, and those who have attacked us will not deflect us from it. We shall find a way to continue our work – that is, to continue helping the Iraqi people to rebuild their country and regain their sovereignty, under leaders of their own choosing,” he added.
As he mourned the death of Sergio Vieira de Mello, High Commissioner for Human Rights and his Special Representative for Iraq, and the others killed in the Baghdad bombing, the Secretary-General stressed the importance of the spirit of family among all UN staff.
“There are many implications to be considered. But today we come together as a family – to grieve, and to pay tribute to those we have lost. As a family we must take time to mourn our dead,” he said, adding that the overall death toll of 22 international and national staff was likely to rise since some injured are in critical condition and others are missing, perhaps buried under the rubble.
Along with the dead, at least 80 people, mainly UN staff, were wounded when a truck bomb detonated directly outside the Canal Hotel, the UN's Iraq base in eastern Baghdad. UN staff wounded in or traumatised by the attack are being evacuated to the Jordanian capital Amman.
Ramiro Lopes da Silva, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, told IRIN on Thursday: "In Baghdad we are keeping the programme staff so that UN programme delivery continues. We intend to have another facility in town in 3 or 4 days from where we will be operating."
More staff will be rotated into the country as others leave and staff numbers will be at about 200 as of the weekend, he said.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said after a meeting with Annan on Thursday that he was "very pleased" the UN would be staying in Baghdad.
“We will be working with the United Nations representatives in Baghdad on security matters,” Powell added. “We want the humanitarian workers and other workers in Iraq, the construction workers and others to have a safe environment. It is a challenging environment but we will work closely with the United Nations to make sure that they can perform their work in as safe an environment as is possible considering the circumstances.”
UN Security Coordinator Tun Myat told reporters in New York today that he would be leaving for Baghdad on Thursday evening to look into current security arrangements.
"We need to do a very thorough investigation of the event, the aftermath, what needs to be strengthened and what lessons are to be learnt," he said. He added that never in his "wildest nightmares" did he imagine that the UN headquarters in Baghdad could be targeted in this way.
"The UN cannot operate in a fortress mentality," he said. "When faced with a determined suicide bomber it is difficult to provide complete protection."
In a briefing with the Security Council yesterday, Annan emphasized that security was ultimately the responsibility of the United States-run Coalition Provisional Authority.
Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, told IRIN on Thursday that he had been unaware of any specific terrorist threat against the United Nations in Iraq, describing security in the capital, Baghdad, as adequate.
"Obviously, this kind of an attack is unsettling to everybody, but I believe we are able to provide adequate protection,” he said. “You have to realise there's not 100 percent security against terrorists, whether you're in New York or Washington or Chicago; that's a fact of life."
The US-sponsored Iraqi Governing Council condemned the attack on the UN, indicating its belief that Saddam loyalists or foreign fighters were responsible. "The council affirms the attack was carried out by either the faithful of the fallen regime or foreign terrorists who have infiltrated our borders," said Ahmad Chalabi, a council member.
In Iraq UN and other humanitarian workers are facing a growing threat. Gunmen attacked an ICRC vehicle on 22 July, killing an aid worker from Sri Lanka and wounding the Iraqi driver. The World Food Programme (WFP) was targeted in a 6 July grenade attack in the northern city of Mosul that killed an Iraqi driver.
The international NGO Care, that is restoring several clinics and providing nutritional supplements for children, said the blast underscored the need to quickly restore law and order. "The particular worry here is that this seems to represent a step up in terms of targeting of specific humanitarian workers," Pat Carey, Care's vice-president said.
"We're continuing our operations in Iraq and we intend to carry on with the programmes that we currently have, but we do want to step back and think through the security implications," he added.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pulled their staff out of Iraq on Wednesday. The European Union (EU) also said it was scaling back its presence in Baghdad, calling home three officials on temporary assignment and leaving three on long-term duty to handle humanitarian aid issues.
Despite the deadly attack, the worst in the UN's history, da Silva said the UN in Iraq was not calling on the Coalition for enhanced security. "We are not going to ask for more protection than before. I don't expect bigger concentration of Coalition forces than before," he said.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003
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