Amman, April 12: The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNHCI) announced here that a group of international UN staff will return to northern Iraq on Monday.
"International UN staff will be going back Monday to the
Governorates of Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaymaniyah," Ramiro Lopes
da Silva told a news conference in Amman today.
"We intend to have around 13 international staff going to
each governorate and then we will gradually expand our
presence in the south and we will also establish a presence
Monday in the western part of Iraq," Lopes da Silva said.
But Lopes da Silva warned the US and British coalition
must first assume their responsibilities under the Geneva
Convention and restore law and order in Iraq in exchange for
the full return of UN staff there.
"In the last few days the coalition forces failed to
fulfill those responsibilities and we have been appealing that
this situation should be redressed quickly," he said.
"From our humanitarian perspective, we are extremely
concerned by what we think is anarchy and chaos now in the
main urban centers of Iraq," Lopes da Silva stressed.
"We are extremely concerned that the present state of
lack and law and order in urban centers may spill over .. and
move from a situation of looting to a situation of score
settling, which will have extremely damaging consequences for
the Iraqi society," he said.
He reported incidents of vengeance Thursday and yesterday
in the northern city of Mosul but gave no details.
Meanwhile UN teams who will start moving back into Iraq,
after their pullout on March 18 two days before the war was
launched, will focus on restoring basic social services to the
Iraqi population in the short-term, he said.
Bureau Report
