|
UN headquarters in Iraq bombed
19/08/2003 15:59 - (SA)
Sameer N Jacoub
Baghdad - The explosion that ripped throught the UN headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday was caused by a truck bomb, a UN employee said.
"I saw a yellow cement truck crash into the wall of the Canal Hotel and explode," said Fayez Sarhan.
"We have evidence to suggest it could have been a suicide attack," another official said.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene of the blast saw nine people being carried out of the hotel on stretchers.
Nazar Hababa, the UN driver, was covered in blood as he recounted seeing victims, both Iraqis and foreigners, in the rubble. US special representative News agencies report that the UN special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is among them.
Rescue workers are reportedly struggling to free him from the wreckage of his office, which was close to the main explosion.
"Benon Sevan, director of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, who was giving a news conference, was injured," UN spokesperson Veronique Taveau, without giving details.
Black Hawks Sergeant Amy Abbott said military ambulances and security forces were at the scene of the blast which occurred at about 16:30 (12:40 GMT).
At least four Black Helicopters could be seen on the grounds at the hotel and more were flying in, apparently to ferry away the victims.
A light blue UN flag fluttered atop the compound as black smoke rose from at least one burning car. One corner of the building was missing and people were seen sifting through piles of rubble. Injured people were loaded into a helicopter while others were led away by soldiers.
Security forces and US soldiers formed a cordon around the palm-tree lined compound.
The explosion destroyed a significant part of the building, UN spokesperson Fred Eckhard said in New York.
The blast knocked windows out of houses as far away as 1.5km away, residents said. The hotel sits in northeast Baghdad.
Dozens of US Humvees were at the scene and at least two Black Hawk helicopters hovered above. Black smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air.
United Nations weapons inspectors worked out of the hotel during the period before the war in Iraq as the international community sought, but failed to find, Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
"My house shook like it did during the bombing at the start of the war," a resident in the area around the hotel said. The United Nations distributes humanitarian aid and is developing programs aimed at boosting Iraq's emerging free press, justice system and monitoring of human rights. Security council The United States failed to win the backing of the UN security council before it invaded Iraq on March 20, and since major fighting ended in April, the United States has been reluctant to let the United Nations play a large role in rebuilding the country.
The Canal Hotel operates more as an office building than a hotel. The cafeteria is a popular place for humanitarian workers and journalists to meet.
The three-floor building houses the offices of most UN agencies with the exception of Unicef and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Before the war, it was home to UN weapons inspectors who have hundreds of documents there and a mobile testing lab in the hotel parking lot.
- AFP
|
News
