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UN evacuating Baghdad foreign employees to Jordan
Baghdad, Aug 20: The United Nations will transfer all foreign employees from its headquarters in Baghdad to Jordan, a UN security officer told the press today.
Baghdad, Aug 20: The United Nations will transfer all foreign employees from its headquarters in Baghdad to Jordan, a UN security officer told the press today.
"All UN international employees who worked at the Canal Hotel are going to be sent to Amman today. Five planes are expected at the Baghdad airport," he said.
No further details were available. The decision came after a truck bomb at the hotel, the main UN compound in Baghdad, killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 100, a UN spokeswoman said.
Among the dead were the top UN official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira De Mello, and a host of foreigners hailing from the United States, Philippines, Egypt, Canada, Britain, among other nations.
Brazilian Vieira De Mello was the most senior UN official killed in a Middle East terrorist attack since Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish UN mediator, was slain by Zionist radicals in September 1948.
The attack, possibly by a suicide bomber, appeared to be an attempt to evict the international community from Iraq, a country reeling from chaos and anarchy after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in April by a US-led coalition.
Bureau Report
"All UN international employees who worked at the Canal Hotel are going to be sent to Amman today. Five planes are expected at the Baghdad airport," he said.
No further details were available. The decision came after a truck bomb at the hotel, the main UN compound in Baghdad, killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 100, a UN spokeswoman said.
Among the dead were the top UN official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira De Mello, and a host of foreigners hailing from the United States, Philippines, Egypt, Canada, Britain, among other nations.
Brazilian Vieira De Mello was the most senior UN official killed in a Middle East terrorist attack since Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish UN mediator, was slain by Zionist radicals in September 1948.
The attack, possibly by a suicide bomber, appeared to be an attempt to evict the international community from Iraq, a country reeling from chaos and anarchy after Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in April by a US-led coalition.
Bureau Report