Drone_pilot
05-08-04, 14:42
UN staff returning to Iraq will have to rely on the US-led multinational force for protection, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says.
The UN pulled out all its staff in October after two suicide bomb attacks on its Baghdad headquarters.
Mr Annan said the UN had not received any firm offers from countries for the separate dedicated protection force it had hoped to have in place in Iraq.
A small UN team is due to return to Iraq later this month.
Mr Annan told UN Security Council ambassadors on Wednesday that at least 5,000 troops would be needed to protect the much larger UN contingent needed to assist with elections and reconstruction projects.
The small UN team led by veteran Pakistani diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi is expected to go to Baghdad shortly to take part in a national political conference.
"We are forced to rely on the multinational force to give us protection," Mr Annan said.
"We haven't had much success attracting governments to sign up for the dedicated force."
BBC Read More (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3537726.stm)
The UN pulled out all its staff in October after two suicide bomb attacks on its Baghdad headquarters.
Mr Annan said the UN had not received any firm offers from countries for the separate dedicated protection force it had hoped to have in place in Iraq.
A small UN team is due to return to Iraq later this month.
Mr Annan told UN Security Council ambassadors on Wednesday that at least 5,000 troops would be needed to protect the much larger UN contingent needed to assist with elections and reconstruction projects.
The small UN team led by veteran Pakistani diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi is expected to go to Baghdad shortly to take part in a national political conference.
"We are forced to rely on the multinational force to give us protection," Mr Annan said.
"We haven't had much success attracting governments to sign up for the dedicated force."
BBC Read More (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3537726.stm)