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20/08/2003
Rescue operation scaled down in devastated Baghdad UN HQ
The search for people trapped alive in the devastated Baghdad headquarters of the UN is being scaled down following yesterday afternoon's bomb attack.
The latest casualty figures for those killed stands at 17 and 100 people injured in the blast that ripped through the hotel building collapsing part of the structure.
The bomb killed the UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello who was trapped in the rubble of his office for several hours.
UN staff injured in yesterday’s blast were being evacuated from Iraq today. Some are being taken to neighbouring countries including Jordan for medical treatment.
Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, condemned the attack as an act of “unprovoked and murderous violence”.
Mr Mello, a 55-year-old Brazilian veteran of many UN peacekeeping operations from the Balkans to East Timor to Africa, had been trapped in the rubble of his office in the shell of the Canal Hotel, which served as UN headquarters in the Iraqi capital. A 30-year UN veteran he was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Mr Annan said Mello’s death was "a bitter blow for the United Nations, and for me personally".
A UN spokesperson reaffirmed the commitment to Iraq, but that the organisation would have to rethink its plans for operations in the country following the bombing.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was appalled by the "callous attack" against the UN Baghdad HQ and said that the United Nations and Iraq had lost an “exceptional man” with the death of Mr Mello.
He said: "My thoughts are with the relatives and friends of those who have been killed and injured."
The UN has confirmed that among those known to have been killed are Fiona Watson of the United Kingdom, Rick Hooper of the United States, Ranillo Buenaventura and Marilyn Manuel of the Philippines, and Jean-Selim Kanaan of Egypt.
The Programme Coordinator for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Iraq, Christopher Klein-Beekman, also died. The 32-year-old Canadian was the agency’s chief of Iraq operations.
US military sources confirmed that the bomb placed in a cement lorry was almost certainly a suicide attack on the UN building.
(SP)
The latest casualty figures for those killed stands at 17 and 100 people injured in the blast that ripped through the hotel building collapsing part of the structure.
The bomb killed the UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello who was trapped in the rubble of his office for several hours.
UN staff injured in yesterday’s blast were being evacuated from Iraq today. Some are being taken to neighbouring countries including Jordan for medical treatment.
Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, condemned the attack as an act of “unprovoked and murderous violence”.
Mr Mello, a 55-year-old Brazilian veteran of many UN peacekeeping operations from the Balkans to East Timor to Africa, had been trapped in the rubble of his office in the shell of the Canal Hotel, which served as UN headquarters in the Iraqi capital. A 30-year UN veteran he was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Mr Annan said Mello’s death was "a bitter blow for the United Nations, and for me personally".
A UN spokesperson reaffirmed the commitment to Iraq, but that the organisation would have to rethink its plans for operations in the country following the bombing.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was appalled by the "callous attack" against the UN Baghdad HQ and said that the United Nations and Iraq had lost an “exceptional man” with the death of Mr Mello.
He said: "My thoughts are with the relatives and friends of those who have been killed and injured."
The UN has confirmed that among those known to have been killed are Fiona Watson of the United Kingdom, Rick Hooper of the United States, Ranillo Buenaventura and Marilyn Manuel of the Philippines, and Jean-Selim Kanaan of Egypt.
The Programme Coordinator for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Iraq, Christopher Klein-Beekman, also died. The 32-year-old Canadian was the agency’s chief of Iraq operations.
US military sources confirmed that the bomb placed in a cement lorry was almost certainly a suicide attack on the UN building.
(SP)
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