IRAQ: U.N. STAFF IN BAGHDAD START WORK IN TEMPORARY OFFICES, THREE BRITISH SLDIERS KILLED IN BASRA AMBUSH.
Record ID:
230478
IRAQ: U.N. STAFF IN BAGHDAD START WORK IN TEMPORARY OFFICES, THREE BRITISH SLDIERS KILLED IN BASRA AMBUSH.
- Title: IRAQ: U.N. STAFF IN BAGHDAD START WORK IN TEMPORARY OFFICES, THREE BRITISH SLDIERS KILLED IN BASRA AMBUSH.
- Date: 23rd August 2003
- Summary: (W3) BASRA, IRAQ (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (AS 12154/03) 1. WIDE OF THE SITE WITH BADLY DAMAGED VEHICLE 2. VARIOUS OF BRITISH SOLDIERS NEAR THE SITE 3. MORE OF CORDONED OFF AREA 4. TROOPS ON GUARD (U2) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (AS 12154/03) 5. WIDE OF THE GATE AT BRITISH EMBASSY COMPOUND 6. IRAQI MAN AND WOMAN TALKING TO BRITISH SOLDIER BEHIND THE GATE 7. VARIOUS OF BARBED WIRE, WALL SURROUNDING THE EMBASSY COMPOUND 8. BRITISH FLAG (W3) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (AS 12154/03) 9. TRUCK DRIVING INTO EMBASSY COMPOUND, SOLDIERS CLOSING THE GATE 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR DIPLOMAT AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD JOHN WALKS, SAYING: "We're just now doing security reassessment of the embassy following the bombing of the U.N. headquarters, we have had reports that there may a similar threat to the embassy, it is a precautionary measure, we have closed it to the public and we have relocated the office temporarily to a secure zone and we are now doing security re-assessment." REPORTER ASKING WHETHER THERE WERE ANY PLANS TO CLOSE THE EMBASSY IN IRAQ, WALKS ANSWERING: "No, the British office is continuing within a security zone and we are doing a security assessment of this site." 11. UN CHILDREN's FUND (UNICEF) CAR ARRIVING AT UNICEF BUILDING 12. SECURITY AT THE GATE 13. UNICEF STAFF GREETING COMMUNICATION OFFICER AT THE UNICEF JEFFREY KELLY 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLY SAYING: "We are trying to get back to work today after the tragedy that has happened. I don't think it is going to be a fast process at all. We here at UNICEF lost someone very close to us, Mr Chris Klein-Beekman, and I think it is going to take a while, really, to get over it and start to work fully again. But it is important that we do start working again. " 15. UNICEF HEADQUARTERS IN BAGHDAD 3.14 (W4) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16. GV: TENTS SET UP NEXT BESIDE THE WRECKAGE OF THE BOMBED U.N. HEADQUARTERS 3.19 17. MV/CU/GV: U.N. WORKERS IN TEMPORARY OFFICES (4 SHOTS) 3.35 18. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) TORBEN DUE, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME COUNTRY DIRECTOR SAYING: "WFP is in middle of implementing its largest programme ever, and it is simply unthinkable that we should stop this operation at this time." 3.53 19. CU: DUE'S IDENTITY CARD 3.56 20. LV/CU: DAMAGED U.N. HEADQUARTERS, FLAG (2 SHOTS) 4.03 (W3) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2003)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 21. LV/GV: SOLDIERS AT THE SCENE; VARIOUS DAMAGE AND SOLDIERS (6 SHOTS) 4.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD AND BASRA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAB2JB5IRW1V8PEX023TGN9129K
- Story Text: Three British soldiers were killed in Iraq and the
British embassy in Baghdad was evacuated after "credible
threat"
Three British soldiers were killed and another was
seriously wounded in Iraq's second city of Basra on
Saturday (August 23), a British military spokesman said.
Locals said a British vehicle had come under fire from
another car, veered off the road and crashed.
British soldiers sealed off an area of the southern
city and witnesses said they could see a badly damaged
vehicle behind the cordon.
Military officials said the incident took place in
central Basra at approximately 0830 (0430 GMT) on Saturday
morning but were unable to immediately provide details.
Until this incident, at least 15 British soldiers have
been killed in combat since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in
March to topple Saddam Hussein's government.
In Baghdad, diplomats and staff at Britain's embassy
have evacuated the building after a "credible threat" of
attack.
A senior diplomat at the British embassy in Baghdad
said the embassy staff were moved to the Coalition
Provisional Authority headquarters after information of a
credible threat of attack.
"We're just now doing security re-assessment of the
embassy following the bombing of the U.N. headquarters, we
have had reports that there may a similar threat to the
embassy, it is a precautionary measure, we have closed it
to the public and we have relocated the office temporarily
to a secure zone and we are now doing security
reassessment," John Walks, a senior diplomat at the embassy
said.
The embassy staff were moved from the building on
Wednesday (August 20), a day after the devastating truck
bombing at the United Nation's Baghdad headquarters, which
killed 24 people and wounded scores more.
The bombing, which U.S. officials have blamed on people
loyal to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein or Islamic
extremists, raised fears of a growing and widespread
campaign to target Western targets in Iraq.
But international officials and aid workers vowed their
work in Iraq would go on.
"We are trying to get back to work today after the
tragedy that has happened. I don't think it is going to be
a fast process at all. We here at UNICEF lost someone very
close to us, " Jeffrey Kelly, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Communication Officer said as he arrived to work on
Saturday morning.
"I think it is going to take a while, really, to get
over it and start to work fully again. But it is important
that we do start working again, " Kelly said.
His colleagues from World Food Programme (WFP) resumed
their work in tents and shipping containers set up beside
the wreckage of their bombed headquarters.
"WFP is in middle of implementing its largest programme
ever, and it is simply unthinkable that we should stop this
operation at this time," Torben Due, WFP country director
said.
Different U.N. agencies were assigned spaces in rows of
white tents, pre-fabricated offices and containers to set
up computers and files retrieved from the devastated
building.
Air-conditioners were hooked up in some tents, others
were left to the mercy of the blazing heat.
A few metres away, using bulldozers and heavy lifting
equipment, U.S. soldiers continued to sift through the
rubble of the blast which killed the head of the U.N.
mission in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
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