The UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan today voiced dismay at the deteriorating security situation in Iraq after another suicide bomber attacked the United Nations compound in Baghdad.
Two Iraqi policemen were killed and 19 people, including Iraqi nationals working for the United Nations, were wounded when a car bomber detonated his vehicle on being stopped by Iraqi police outside the compound.
The bomber struck on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which an Iraqi delegation is due to attend. One of those due to represent Iraq there, however, Governing Council member Akila al-Hashemi, was critically wounded on Saturday in an assassination attempt in Baghdad.
"The secretary-general is dismayed that the United Nations in Iraq has once again been the target of an act of terror. He remains greatly concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Iraq," a UN spokesman said.
Mr Annan appointed a panel headed by former Finnish president Mr Martti Ahtisaari to investigate an August 19th truck bombing that devastated the UN headquarters in Iraq, killing 22 people including his special envoy, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Mr Ahtisaari's team will include Deputy Garda Commissioner, Mr Peter Fitzgerald, while Assistant Commissioner Mr Kevin Carty has been asked toassist the panel in an advisory capacity.
Mr Annan told reporters that UN experts were reassessing the world body's posture in Baghdad in the light of today's blast on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly session at which stabilizing postwar Iraq will be at the top of the agenda.
"We need a secure environment to be able to operate," he said on arrival at UN headquarters. "We will go forward, but of course if it continues to deteriorate, then our operations will be handicapped considerably."
US President Mr George W Bush wants a new UN resolution to create a multinational force, but France and Germany, who opposed the US-led war, are demanding that the United States agree to a fast handover of power to Iraqis. Washington believes that would lead to chaos.
Mr Bush will address the UN General Assembly in New York tomorrow.
Leaders of France and Germany stood firm on their demand at weekend talks in Berlin with Britain's Mr Tony Blair, casting doubt on whether talks with the United States this week will make progress.
In an interview with the New York Timesas he left to attend the General Assembly, French President Mr Jacques Chirac said he had no plans to veto the US measure but might not support it in its current form, indicating he would abstain.
US officials said their draft resolution was undergoing revisions. The main aim is to get a UN-authorised multinational force under US leadership that would attract more foreign troops to Iraq.