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UN staff arrive back in Baghdad
The United Nations has returned international staff to Iraq, nearly a year after a bomb attack on their Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people. But although the UN is back in the country, the organisation is keeping a low profile. Mr Qazi [the new representative] spent his first day at work in Baghdad meeting the prime minister and president of the interim government and talking up the prospects of the national conference that is to be held on Sunday. He called for a peaceful settlement of the crisis in Najaf and emphasised the need for humanitarian assistance to its citizens. He was due to meet journalists but a mortar attack on the international zone kept him away.On Sunday, 1,000 delegates to the national conference are meant to gather in the same place to elect a national assembly to support the work of the interim government. That next step in the Iraqi political process was due two weeks ago but was deferred at the request of the UN to ensure the conference was more representative. They will meet at a critical time. The events of the past week - the stand-off in Najaf and mass demonstrations across seven cities in favour of the rebel leader Moqtada Sadr - have tested the stability of the interim government. It needs some sign of progress to prove its worth.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-14 |
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