IRAQ: THREE BRITISH SOLDIERS KILLED IN BASRA ATTACK/ U.N. STAFF RESUME WORK AT BAGHDAD HEADQUARTERS.

Record ID: 355700

  • Title: IRAQ: THREE BRITISH SOLDIERS KILLED IN BASRA ATTACK/ U.N. STAFF RESUME WORK AT BAGHDAD HEADQUARTERS.
  • Date: 23rd August 2003
  • Summary: (W3) BASRA, IRAQ (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/ZOOM OUT/PAN: SITE WITH BADLY DAMAGED VEHICLE 0.12 2. MV: BRITISH SOLDIERS NEAR THE SITE 0.17 3. GV: MORE OF CORDONED OFF AREA; TROOPS ON GUARD (2 SHOTS) 0.29 (U2) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4. GV: GATE AT BRITISH EMBASSY COMPOUND 0.36 5. MV/
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD AND BASRA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVACBQUGGD40CP0UT7L8O3ML3XSO
  • Story Text: Three British soldiers were killed in Iraq's second city Basra.

    In Baghdad, United Nations staff resumed work four days
    after a truck bombing devastated their compound.



    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.

    Ramiro Lopes da Silva, the U.N. humanitarian
    coordinator for Iraq, appointed by Kofi Annan to be his
    interim special representative, said the U.N. agencies were
    resuming their operations in tents and shipping containers
    set up beside the wreckage of their bombed headquarters.

    "Operational agencies, so UNICEF, WHO, FAO etc, they
    are resuming their normal operations today. You know
    Saturday is a weekend for the United Nations so today is
    more slow-paced ... and tomorrow. For UNAMI, the recently
    created UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, we need to take a
    few more days because we lost our office. We are creating
    temporary facilities in the city and these tents, " Lopes
    da Silva said in his first interview in the new capacity.

    Lopes da Silva, who is Portuguese, succeeds Sergio
    Vieira de Mello, who was killed in Tuesday's (August 19)
    suicide bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

    Lopes da Silva, 54, was also injured in the bombing.

    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.

    But all said their work in Iraq would go on.

    "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, World Food
    Programme (WFP) country director said.

    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.

    "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.



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