BAGHDAD, 21 August 2003 — Rescue workers searched for possible survivors beneath the rubble of the UN headquarters in Baghdad as the world body vowed to stay the course in strife-torn Iraq after its top envoy and 23 others died in a deadly truck bombing.
Meanwhile, in a small-scale attack on occupying forces, a US citizen working as an interpreter was killed and two US soldiers wounded in a small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attack in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, the US Army said.
Iraq’s 25-member interim governing council blamed Tuesday’s powerful blast, thought to be a possible suicide bombing, on either toppled dictator Saddam Hussein’s followers or foreign terrorists.
The explosion shattered any pretence that normality was returning to Iraq under the US-led stewardship of the country in the deadliest attack since coalition forces toppled Saddam’s regime in April.
The UN compound, housed in the three-story Canal Hotel, was surrounded by US armored vehicles as search and rescue efforts carried on amid the chunks of concrete, steel bars and rubble. “It’s like a search after an earthquake. We must move carefully because anything that falls could kill people who survived the catastrophe,” a UN official said.
But by afternoon, the search appeared to be winding down, as only a few cranes lifted rubble and US troops set up tents in the devastated compound, a virtual collage of cement chunks, metal and burned-out cars.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared the world body would not abandon Iraq even as it found itself targeted by mysterious assailants.
“We will carry on our mandate that has been given to us by the Security Council,” he said at a news conference at Stockholm airport on his way to New York.
Asked whether the UN was planning to withdraw staff from Iraq, Annan said: “We do not intend to do this. We are assessing the situation.”
A UN security officer in Baghdad earlier told reporters that the UN would transfer all foreign employees from its headquarters in Baghdad to Jordan.
But in Amman, a senior UN official said the organization would not evacuate anyone, other than those injured in the blast.
The source, who declined to be named, said most UN personnel eligible for holidays have waived their rights to take time off in a show of perseverance after Tuesday’s attack.
The death toll continued to rise, jumping from 17 to 24, according to a UN official who asked not to be named. A tally of wounded checked in at hospitals around Baghdad came to 107.
The US-sponsored governing council denounced the blast and pointed its finger at both Saddam and foreign fighters.
“The council affirms the attack was carried out by either the faithful of the fallen regime or foreign terrorists who have infiltrated our borders,” it said.
Member Ahmad Chalabi added the council had received intelligence of the attack a week ago.
“The intelligence specifically said that a large-scale act would take place ... against a soft target, such as Iraqi political parties or other parties including the UN,” Chalabi said.
