DHAKA, 20 August 2004 — Bangladesh will do whatever possible to assist the United Nations in restoring political process, reconstruction and humanitarian operations in Iraq, the foreign minister said in Dhaka yesterday.
“We believe the first major challenge facing the UN in Iraq would be to regain the trust and confidence of the people of Iraq ... We have no doubt that the UN will win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people,” Morshed Khan said.
Speaking at the commemoration of the bombing of UN office in Baghdad a year ago, Foreign Minister Khan said the past year and a half have been difficult for the world body as its credibility came under severe test.
Appreciating the UN’s return to Iraq, he hoped that the new special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be able to continue and promote the mission of his predecessor in Iraq.
The foreign minister recalled the killing of the UN secretary general’s special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and his 21 colleagues in the bombing, saying that the tragic event of Aug. 19 last year did not undermine the UN resolve to reach out in every possible way to help the Iraqi people.
Visiting UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and UNDP Country Representative Jorgen Lissner also spoke at the function where all stood in a one-minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed souls.
In his speech Mark Brown said as the UN prepares to return to Iraq to help the Iraqi people build a better future, “we are acutely aware of our need to adjust the way we work to the new realities we face”. It’s a world where “we must now balance our undertaking in helping others with the need to protect our own people”, he observed.
Brown also said the UN is committed to helping Bangladesh recover from the devastating floods and respond to the need for development and progress.
