Attacks force UN scale-back

The murder of a US-backed Iraqi leader, a bombing at a Baghdad hotel and an attack on US soldiers deepened Washington's troubles yesterday as it tried to enlist the world's help to rebuild Iraq.

Concern over security led the United Nations to announce it was scaling back its international staff, dealing a fresh blow to US claims that the situation is under control in Iraq.

UN offices in Baghdad have twice come under attack.

But in New York, US Secretary of State Colin Powell was upbeat about a new Security Council resolution on rebuilding Iraq, saying major powers were moving closer.

"I am pleased, and I think my colleagues on the P5 are pleased, that we have seen some convergence of views with respect to the new resolution," Powell said after lunch at UN headquarters with foreign ministers of the other four permanent Security Council members - Russia, China, France and Britain.

In what was another black day for US-led occupying forces and their Iraqi supporters, Akila al-Hashemi, one of three women on Washington's handpicked Iraqi Governing Council, died from wounds suffered in an gun attack five days ago.

"Today the people of Iraq have lost a courageous champion and pioneer for the cause of freedom and democracy," said the US governor of Iraq, Paul Bremer.

Powell also paid tribute to Hashemi: "She gave her life so that they [the Iraqi people] could have a better future."

Eight soldiers were wounded, three seriously, when their convoy came under attack in the northern city of Mosul, and a Somali security guard was killed at the Baghdad hotel housing journalists from US television network NBC.

Guerrillas opposed to the US-led occupation have targeted Westerners, Iraqis co-operating with Bremer's administration, and US and British soldiers. They have also tried to sabotage the sprawling infrastructure of a country which holds the world's second-largest oil reserves.

Guerrilla attacks have killed 79 US soldiers in Iraq since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. Many more have been wounded.

Seven Iraqi civilians were killed and 13 wounded on Thursday when a mortar fell on a crowded square in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.

The United Nations said it was withdrawing 19 of its 105 international staff in Iraq because of security concerns.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agonised over security since a suicide bomb attack on UN Baghdad headquarters last month killed 22 people, including mission head Sergio Vieira de Mello.

UN sources said they could not rule out an eventual reduction of staff to as few as one or two international staff.

The UN decision was a clear setback to Bush's efforts to expand the UN role in Iraqi reconstruction in order to persuade more nations to contribute cash and troops.

Thursday's attacks occurred just as a leaked report says there is no proof Iraq had chemical or biological weapons. The report is due to be published next month.

US forces have been searching for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq for more than five months. None have so far been found.

France and Germany want a swifter handover of power to Iraqis as a condition for supporting Washington's efforts. The United States says it would be rash to hurry the process.

Some Governing Council members have also pressed for a quick return to Iraqi self-rule. Members of Iraq's UN delegation denied any rift with the US, but said they hoped a new constitution could be ready by May, paving the way for democratic elections and self-government.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq