IRAQ: GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM SAYS IRAQIS ARE MORE CAPABLE THAN OTHERS OF MAINTAINING SECURITY OF THEIR COUNTRY / ICRC CONSIDERING ITS DEPLOYMENT IN IRAQ FOLLOWING SUICIDE BOMBING ON ITS BAGHDAD HQ

Record ID: 648095

  • Title: IRAQ: GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM SAYS IRAQIS ARE MORE CAPABLE THAN OTHERS OF MAINTAINING SECURITY OF THEIR COUNTRY / ICRC CONSIDERING ITS DEPLOYMENT IN IRAQ FOLLOWING SUICIDE BOMBING ON ITS BAGHDAD HQ
  • Date: 29th October 2003
  • Summary: (W5) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (OCTOBER 29, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. MV/WS: ARRIVAL OF MEMBERS OF IRAQ"S GOVERNING COUNCIL (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), ABDUL AZIZ AL-HAKIM, MEMBER OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL, LEADING MEMBER OF SCIRI, SAYING: "It is necessary to rely on social, tribal and religious forces, especially as they are are political forces, which have a great role in confronting the former regime such as Badr forces (SCIRI militia), the Peshmerga (Kurdish armed forces) and other forces that belong to different parties. We can depend on these bodies to handle security." 0.54 3. CU: JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES 0.59 4. WIDE/PAN OF PRESS CONFERENCE 1.01 5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic), HAKIM SAYING: "It is wrong to rely on armed forces to establish security. A tank, a gun or an aircraft is incapable of maintaining the security of a city, not only in Iraq, but also in any part of the world. A tank can confront a tank or a cannon. It is unjust that a soldier who is trained on a tank be assigned with a task, which he is unqualified to do, the task of keeping the internal security of an area." 1.48 6. ZOOM OUT: END OF NEWS CONFERENCE 1.54 7. LV: EXTERIOR OF ICRC BUILDING 1.59 8. VARIOUS OF DAMAGE TO BUILDING (2 SHOTS) 2.09 9. CU ICRC FLAG 2.14 10. TWO ICRC STAFF SITTING OUTSIDE 2.19 11. LV/SV: IRAQI WORKERS ON CRANE REPAIRING ELECTRICITY CABLES (2 SHOTS) 2.28 12. MORE WORKERS PULLING CABLES ON THE GROUND 2.32 13. GV MUDDY STREET WITH RED CROSS VEHICLES AND CRANE IN BACKGROUND 2.35 14. VARIOUS: WORKERS PUMPING WATER OUT OF BIG HOLE (4 SHOTS) 2.53 15. WIDE OF DESTROYED ICRC BUILDING; WORKERS OUTSIDE DISMANTLING FENCE (2 SHOTS) 3.01 16. WORKERS CARRYING SANDBAGS OUT OF BUILDING INTO A TRUCK (2 SHOTS) 3.11 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th November 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVAC3Q3SLSE35058VWN37VV7F1CX
  • Story Text: Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council has said the
    U.S. occupying forces should handover the responsibility of
    maintaining security to Iraqi militias.


    Member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council,
    Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said on Wednesday (October 29), Iraqis
    were capable more than others of maintaining security of
    their country.

    Hakim, a leading member of the Supreme Council of the
    Islamic Revolution for Iraq (SCIRI) said the Councils armed
    'Badr Forces' militia and the Kurdish Peshmerga militia
    could handle the security inside Iraq.

    "It is necessary to rely on social, tribal and
    religious forces, especially as they are are political
    forces, which have a great role in confronting the former
    regime such as Badr forces (SCIRI militia), the Peshmerga
    (Kurdish armed forces) and other forces that belong to
    different parties. We can depend on these bodies to handle
    security." Hakim told a news conference.

    "It is wrong to rely on armed forces to establish
    security. A tank, a gun or an aircraft is incapable of
    maintaining the security of a city, not only in Iraq but
    also in any part of the world " Hakim said.

    "A tank can confront a tank or a gun. It is unjust that
    a soldier who is trained on a tank be assigned with a task,
    which he is unqualified to do, the task of keeping the
    internal security of an area," he added.

    Iraq is currently suffers from lack of security and some
    members of the Governing Council accuse the U.S. troops of
    doing little to reestablish security.

    On Tuesday (Ocotber 28) the ICRC said it was
    reconsidering its deployment in Iraq following the wave of
    suicide bombings in Baghdad on Monday. One of the attacks
    hit the Baghdad headquarters of the neutral, Swiss-run
    ICRC, killing two Iraqi Red Cross employees and as many as
    10 other people outside the compound. The ICRC, one of the
    few agencies that stayed in Iraq throughout the U.S. attack
    on the country, has about 30 foreign staff and around 600
    Iraqi employees in the country.

    Security concerns already have forced the organization
    to cut back from a maximum of 130 foreign staff earlier in
    the year. Other aid groups are evaluating their operations
    in Iraq after Monday's attacks, which also hit three police
    stations and came more than two months after the August 19
    bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

    Red Cross delegates devote much of their time to
    visiting prisoners held by occupation forces and the Iraqi
    police a main part of the agency's mandate under the Geneva
    Conventions on warfare and occupation. The organization
    also offers emergency medical aid, provides water and
    sanitation and educates Iraqis on how to avoid land mines
    and other explosives.


    ab/awa


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