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Red Cross left shaken
27/10/2003 17:15 - (SA)
Geneva - The international Red Cross said on Monday it is considering cutting back its operations in Iraq following a bomb attack on its Baghdad headquarters that shook the neutral Swiss-run organisation.
"Such an attack is a major blow for us," said Florian Westphal, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross. "It's a big shock. It is obviously impossible to move onto a normal day's business, so we really have to step back and take stock."
The attack killed two Iraqi employees of the ICRC and as many as 10 other people outside the agency's compound, Westphal said.
Several ICRC employees were slightly injured inside the compound. "Obviously we don't know how many people were injured outside among non-ICRC people," Westphal said.
He said ICRC officials in Baghdad and at the Geneva headquarters were reviewing operations.
"It's too early for us at the moment to say how this attack will impact on our activities," Westphal said. "We will have a fairly clear idea within the next few days how we want to proceed."
Westphal said that weeks ago the agency had received "unspecified warnings that we may at one stage or another be the targets of an attack," but said the ICRC didn't know who would want to target the organisation.
The warnings had been "relayed" to the ICRC, Westphal said.
"They were not in any way specific and it was really impossible to read too much into that except obviously that the situation is extremely difficult and dangerous," he added.
"This attack yet again primarily hurts Iraqis, which is the particular tragedy, be it our staff or others who happened to be in this area," Westphal said.
The ICRC condemned the attack and extends its sympathy to all the victims and their families, he said.
"All deliberate attacks causing death or injury among civilians are strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law and negate the most basic principles of humanity," Westphal said.
- AP
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