Rocket attack disrupts UN visit to Baghdad

IRAQ:The UN Security Council yesterday condemned the "abhorrent terrorist attack" in Iraq that rattled Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a surprise visit to Baghdad.

A Katyusha rocket landed close to the building where Mr Ban, visiting Iraq at the start of a Middle East tour, was giving a news conference with Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. No one was hurt, but Mr Ban took cover behind a podium before he resumed taking questions.

"The members of the Security Council were dismayed and strongly condemned the abhorrent terrorist attack on the Iraqi prime minister's office where the secretary-general participated in a joint press conference," said a statement read by South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, this month's council president.

The council's 15 members also "expressed their unwavering support for the efforts of the UN and its secretary-general to promote an inclusive and effective political process in Iraq aimed at reaching national reconciliation," Mr Kumalo said.

The UN mission in Baghdad was investigating the incident, said UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. The mission had been virtually shut down since a lorry bomb attack on the UN compound killed special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 23 other people in August 2003, but there are now 65 international staff and about 130 Iraqis working there, Ms Okabe said.

Mr Ban was on the first trip to Iraq by a UN secretary-general since Kofi Annan visited in November 2005. His trip was so secret that even his chief spokeswoman was unaware of it, UN officials in New York said.

It came against the backdrop of yet more violence. Three US soldiers were reported killed, and rival Shia gunmen clashed in Basra, Iraq's second city, whose oil fields are the source of most of the country's wealth.

US forces also announced the capture of a top aide to radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in connection with the killing of five American soldiers in the holy city of Kerbala in January.

Mr Ban and Mr Maliki discussed a five-year reconstruction plan for Iraq that the secretary-general launched last week as a "tool for unlocking Iraq's own potential". The plan outlines targets for Iraq during the next five years, including annual economic goals. It includes legislation the government hopes to pass by the end of 2007.

Officials in Washington say a political solution must be found to the sectarian violence devastating Iraq, and that a major US-backed security crackdown in Baghdad is designed only to give Mr Maliki's government a breathing space.

Mr Ban urged the government to launch an all-inclusive political process to reconcile the country's warring sects and for its neighbours to "constructively engage" Iraq. Along with Sunni insurgents in their western Anbar bastion, Mr Maliki's government must deal with tensions between rival Shia groups in southern Iraq. - (Reuters)