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Black day in Iraq as US seeks world help
Jordan Times, Saturday, September 27, 2003
BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The murder of a US-backed Iraqi leader, a bombing at a Baghdad hotel and an attack on US soldiers deepened Washington's troubles on Thursday as it tried to enlist the world's help to rebuild Iraq. Concern over security led the United Nations to announce it was scaling back its international staff, dealing a fresh blow to US claims the situation was under control in Iraq. UN offices in Baghdad have twice come under attack.
In what was another black day for US-led occupying forces and their Iraqi supporters, Akila Al Hashemi, one of three women on Washington's handpicked Iraqi Governing Council, died from wounds suffered in an gun attack five days ago. The council announced three days of national mourning.
"Today the people of Iraq have lost a courageous champion and pioneer for the cause of freedom and democracy," the US governor of Iraq, Paul Bremer, said in a statement.
Eight soldiers were wounded, three seriously, when their convoy came under attack in the northern city of Mosul, and a Somali security guard was killed at the Baghdad hotel housing journalists from US television network NBC. The network said it would continue covering events in Iraq.
The bomb, left on the pavement beside the hotel, shattered windows and sent debris flying.
Guerrillas opposed to the US-led occupation have targeted Westerners, Iraqis cooperating with Bremer's administration, US and British soldiers. They have also tried to sabotage the sprawling infrastructure of a country which holds the second largest oil reserves in the world.
Guerrilla attacks have killed 79 US soldiers in Iraq since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. Many more have been wounded.
The United Nations said it was withdrawing 19 of its 105 international staff in Iraq due to concerns over security.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has agonised over staff security since an Aug. 19 suicide bomb attack on UN Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people, including head of mission Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The White House said it still wanted the United Nations to play a vital role in Iraq despite the staff withdrawals.
Thursday's attacks occurred ahead of a report expected to lay open US President George W. Bush to further criticism over his main justification for launching a preemptive war without the UN's blessing and over the objections of traditional allies, France and Germany, and of Russia.
As Washington reaches out to the United Nations for help to find countries willing to join its efforts to stabilise and rebuild Iraq, a senior American official said the eagerly awaited US report was expected to say there was no proof Iraq had chemical or biological weapons.
Such a report would provide powerful ammunition for the rising number of critics to attack Bush and his most forthright ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, over their decision to invade Iraq on the premise that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction posed an imminent threat.
US forces have been searching unsuccessfully for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq for more than five months.
A senior official said Washington hoped Iraq's former defence minister, who was given effective immunity from prosecution when he surrendered to US forces last week, may be able to help track down the weapons.
France and Germany want a swifter handover of power to Iraqis as a condition for supporting Washington's efforts. The United States says it would be rash to hurry the process.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided the Iraqi dispute, focusing on the need for tougher action to fight terror acts, whether they are in Baghdad or Russia's rebel Chechnya.
Some Governing Council members have also pressed for a quick return to Iraqi self-rule. Members of Iraq's delegation at the United Nations denied any rift with the United States, but said they hoped a new constitution could be ready by May, paving the way for democratic elections and self-government.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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