BELGIUM: INTERNATIONAL AID GROUP MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS SAYS IT WILL PULL ITS OPERATION OUT OF IRAQ
Record ID:
646764
BELGIUM: INTERNATIONAL AID GROUP MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS SAYS IT WILL PULL ITS OPERATION OUT OF IRAQ
- Title: BELGIUM: INTERNATIONAL AID GROUP MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERS SAYS IT WILL PULL ITS OPERATION OUT OF IRAQ
- Date: 4th November 2004
- Summary: (W8)JORDANIAN/IRAQI BORDER (FILE)(REUTERS) 1. SLV/SV/CU OF MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) CONVOY PREPARING TO CROSS BORDER (6 SHOTS) 0.26 2. SLV/SV CONVOY TRAVELLING TO BORDER (4 SHOTS) 0.54 3. CU/LV OF IRAQI BORDER SIGN (2 SHOTS) 1.03 4. SLV OF CONVOY TRAVELLING (2 SHOTS) 1.17 (W8)BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (NOVEMBER 4, 2004) (REUTERS) 5. SLV OPERATIONAL COORDINATOR OF MSF, MARC JOOLEN, SITTING IN HIS OFFICE 1.22 6. CLOSE-UP OF JOOLEN'S HANDS 1.26 7. MCU (English) OPERATIONAL COORDINATOR OF MSF, MARC JOOLEN, SAYING: "We must realise that MSF is one of those organizations that basically operates without armed protection, armed escorts or armed guards or anything of that kind. So we are basically dependent for our protection on proximity. Being able to negotiate our way through. But if the warring parties don't respect such rules then it becomes very, very dangerous." 2.00 8. CU MAP OF IRAQ ON WALL 2.04 9. MCU (English) JOOLEN SAYING: "At this moment we are being confronted with the situation as it is. Our staff is in danger. Our staff is apparently...We have concluded that our staff is in too much danger. It is also, for me, very difficult for me to look into a crystal ball and to see how it evolves and even at the short or mid-term to see whether we can or can not return." 2.29 (W8)IRAQ (FILE) (REUTERS) 10. LV REFUGEE CAMP 2.33 11. LV MSF SIGN IN CAMP 2.35 12. SLV/SV OF PEOPLE COLLECTING WATER (2 SHOTS) 2.40 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th November 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Reuters ID: LVAA5079OWI8VMCS9QBZYDI9N4S8
- Story Text: International aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers says
it will pull its operation out of Iraq.
International aid group Medecins sans Frontieres
(MSF) said it will pull its operation out of Iraq.
The medical aid group, present in Iraq since December
2002, said on Thursday (November 4) it was halting all its
activities in Iraq. The aid group said it was because of
the "extreme risks" run by aid workers in the country.
"We must realise that MSF is one of those organizations
that basically operates without armed protection, armed
escorts or armed guards or anything of that kind. So we are
basically dependent for our protection on proximity. Being
able to negotiate our way through. But if the warring
parties don't respect such rules then it becomes very, very
dangerous," said Operational Coordinator Marc Joolen.
MSF has been working in Iraq since December 2002 and
has some 90 staff in the country, mostly Iraqis.
Paris-based aid group Action contre la Faim said last
month it was withdrawing its staff from Iraq because of
security concerns, adding that aid activities by U.S.-led
forces made it hard for charities to appear impartial.
Joolen said he did not know when they would be able to
return.
"At this moment we are being confronted with the
situation as it is. Our staff is in danger. We have
concluded that our staff is in too much danger. It is also,
for me, very difficult for me to look into a crystal ball
and to see how it evolves and even at the short or mid-term to see
whether we can or can not return," he said.
MSF set up three clinics in Baghdad and set up services
in other Iraqi cities which endured heavy fighting, such as
Falluja, Najaf and Karbala.
He said MSF had earlier pulled out of Afghanistan.
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