30 October 2003
Reconstruction Efforts in Iraq Will Continue, Says Powell
Powell, Boucher comment on U.N. decision to withdraw staff from Baghdad
Washington -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said reconstruction efforts in Iraq will continue and the United States will work to establish security conditions to permit more humanitarian and international aid workers to assist Iraqis in rebuilding their country.
During an October 30 interview with CNN Espanol, in response to a question on the United Nations decision to temporarily withdraw international staff from its Baghdad office, Powell said he thinks the staff will return as security is established.
"Every day we see these terrible incidents that cause us distress and we hate to see the loss of life. But at the same time, we're not going to let the terrorists terrorize us into thinking that we have to pull out. We're not going to pull out," said Powell.
The secretary said the United States is committed to creating conditions in which a democracy can flourish, in which the Iraqi people can put in place a government of their own choosing, and in which terrorists will not be free to conduct their activities, such as the October 27 bombing of the International Committee of the Red Cross's Baghdad office.
"I am confident that we will be able to deal with these threats in due course and establish conditions of security that will allow more aid workers to come in," said Powell.
"The whole country is not aflame. In fact, most of the country is quiet. Most of the country is being returned to local control," added Powell, who said that a number of international aid organizations remain in Baghdad.
"With each passing day, city councils, town councils, that have been put together by the Iraqi people, are taking more and more responsibility for their own activities, their own future. The Governing Council, the new cabinet of ministers -- they're all at work," he said.
At the October 30 State Department press briefing, Spokesman Richard Boucher called the U.N. decision to withdraw international staff from Baghdad "understandable."
"People have a responsibility for their employees. They want to know it's safe and secure and that they're able to operate and carry out their operation," he said.
Boucher said the United States supports U.N. efforts to maintain security for its employees. "We also hope and want them to able to carry out their very important mission," he said.
Boucher said "we look forward to them returning to full strength and full operations as soon as they can do that."
The United Nations has about 60 international staff in Iraq, about a dozen of whom were working in Baghdad.
"There are U.N. agencies doing very important work in Iraq, and we welcome that and we'll work with all of them to make sure the Iraqi people get the help that they need," said Boucher.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=October&x=20031030191634awajuka0.934765&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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