The UN Building in Iraq is bombed

GrantDawg · 08-19-2003, 09:18 AM

A big truck bomb, thought to be in a cement mixer.

Car bomb rocks U.N. headquarters in Baghdad; at least 9 hurt

The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A car bomb exploded in front of the hotel housing the U.N. headquarters on Tuesday, collapsing the front of the building, U.S. military said. The top U.N. official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among the wounded.

A U.N. driver said he saw Iraqis and foreigners injured in the wreckage of the Canal Hotel, where the U.N. is based. An Associated Press reporter said he could see nine people being carried out of the hotel on stretchers.

Sgt. Amy Abbott said the 4:30 p.m. blast was caused by a car bomb. She said military ambulances and security forces were at the scene. She said she did not yet have casualty figures and did not know if anyone had been killed.

"Sergio Vieira de Mello's office was destroyed and Sergio himself was hurt," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.

Eckhard said he didn't know how seriously de Mello was hurt.

The U.N. spokesman in Baghdad, Salim Lone, said dozens were wounded. Eckhard said he couldn't confirm any deaths.

A senior UNICEF official also was seriously wounded in the blast, U.N. officials said.

One wounded man had a yard-long, inch-thick aluminum rod driven into his face just below his right eye. He was able to speak and identified himself as a security consultant for the International Monetary Fund, saying he had just arrived in the country over the weekend.

Nazar Hababa, the U.N. driver, was covered in blood as he recounted seeing victims in the rubble.

"At 4:30 p.m. we heard a big explosion. It was caused by a rocket, said Adnan Al-Jabouri, a second U.N. driver at the hotel.

The force of the blast, which knocked out windows up to a mile away from the scene, destroyed several cars, including one that was on fire.

The U.N. spokesman in Baghdad, Salim Lone, informed U.N. headquarters in New York that a number of people were hurt in the explosion, but no one was killed as far as he knew.

He said the explosion destroyed a significant part of the building, Eckhard said.

Dozens of U.S. Humvees were at the scene and at least two Black Hawk helicopters hovered above. Black smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air.

United Nations weapons inspectors worked out of the hotel during the period before the war.

"My house shook like it did during the bombing at the start of the war," a resident in the area around the hotel said.

The United Nations distributes humanitarian aid and is developing programs aimed at boosting Iraq's emerging free press, justice system and monitoring of human rights.

The United States failed to win the backing of the U.N. Security Council before it invaded Iraq on March 20, and since major fighting ended in April, the United States has been reluctant to let the United Nations play a large role in rebuilding the country.

The Canal Hotel operates more as an office building than a hotel. The cafeteria is a popular place for humanitarian workers and journalists to meet.

The three-floor building houses the offices of most U.N. agencies with the exception of UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Before the war, it was home to U.N. weapons inspectors who have hundreds of documents there and a mobile testing lab in the hotel parking lot.

Fritz · 08-19-2003, 09:31 AM

can you bold that a little more?

GrantDawg · 08-19-2003, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fritz
can you bold that a little more?

Maybe.

GrantDawg · 08-19-2003, 09:36 AM

Is that better, Fritzy?

cuervo72 · 08-19-2003, 09:49 AM

Can you make it blink?

Fritz · 08-19-2003, 09:50 AM

No, but it is easier on my eyes.

A real shame about the bombing.

----
A side note: I wonder if this is the Sergio mentioned in the Smirnoff ads

cuervo72 · 08-19-2003, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Fritz
A side note: I wonder if this is the Sergio mentioned in the Smirnoff ads

Damn, I refrained from making a Sergio comment earlier (wanted to try to restrain from jacking the thread - oh well).

Fritz · 08-19-2003, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cuervo72
Damn, I refrained from making a Sergio comment earlier (wanted to try to restrain from jacking the thread - oh well).

you snooze you looze. um, yea

mrskippy · 08-19-2003, 01:33 PM

Perhaps this bombing of their offices might wake the UN up a bit!!!

Oh and now a bus in Jerusalem has been bombed.

Qwikshot · 08-19-2003, 01:51 PM

Sergio Vieira de Mello has now died of his injuries.

mrskippy · 08-19-2003, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mrskippy
Perhaps this bombing of their offices might wake the UN up a bit!!!

Nope! Now they blame the US for not protecting UN HQ. Even though the US says the UN is responsible for its own security.

Something told me the UN would look for a way to blame the US. Even more reason to withdraw from the UN.

JonInMiddleGA · 08-19-2003, 03:00 PM

Not just withdraw but kick their trivial asses outta that prime real estate in NYC.

sterlingice · 08-19-2003, 03:13 PM

Was anyone else's first thoughts "The UN *has* a building in Iraq?"

SI

mrskippy · 08-19-2003, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA
Not just withdraw but kick their trivial asses outta that prime real estate in NYC.

And use that as the new WTC, leaving the old WTC for the memorial.

08-19-2003, 09:31 AM	#2
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	can you bold that a little more? __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

08-19-2003, 09:49 AM	#5
cuervo72 Head Coach Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Maryland	Can you make it blink? __________________ null

08-19-2003, 09:50 AM	#6
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	No, but it is easier on my eyes. A real shame about the bombing. ---- A side note: I wonder if this is the Sergio mentioned in the Smirnoff ads __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

08-19-2003, 01:51 PM	#10
Qwikshot Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: ...down the gravity well	Sergio Vieira de Mello has now died of his injuries. __________________ "General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams

08-19-2003, 03:00 PM	#12
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	Not just withdraw but kick their trivial asses outta that prime real estate in NYC. __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis Last edited by JonInMiddleGA : 08-19-2003 at 03:01 PM.

08-19-2003, 09:36 AM	#4
GrantDawg World Champion Mis-speller Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Covington, Ga.	Is that better, Fritzy?

08-19-2003, 01:33 PM	#9
mrskippy Banned Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: California	Perhaps this bombing of their offices might wake the UN up a bit!!! Oh and now a bus in Jerusalem has been bombed.

08-19-2003, 03:13 PM	#13
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Was anyone else's first thoughts "The UN has a building in Iraq?" SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

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