UN Security Council condemns deadly attacks in Baghdad (Roundup)

Aug 19, 2009, 17:56 GMT

New York - The UN Security Council strongly condemned on Wednesday attacks that killed more than 70 people in Baghdad.

The day's attacks came as UN officials were marking the first World Humanitarian Day, set to coincide with the sixth anniversary of a bombing that killed 22 UN staffers in the Iraqi capital.

'Members of the UN Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the series of attacks in Baghdad, and expressed their deep condolences to the families of the victims and reaffirmed its support to the people and the government of Iraq and its commitment to Iraq's security,' said British Ambassador John Sawers, the council president.

The series of explosion at several government ministries and residential areas wounded more than 400 people as Iraqis were shopping in preparation for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins this weekend.

The deadly attacks in Baghdad preceded a ceremony for World Humanitarian Day at UN headquarters in New York held to pay tribute to humanitarian workers killed in missions, including the 22 UN staffers who died in a Baghdad attack six years ago.

Among those killed in Baghdad on August 19, 2003 was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian chief of the UN mission in Iraq, which was freshly set up following the US invasion of Iraq to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The UN mission in Iraq, then located at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, was blown up by a massive bomb while it was fully staffed.

In another recent attack, the UN office in Algiers was bombed in December 2007, killing 17 local and foreign staffers.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a crowd of foreign diplomats and UN staffers at UN headquarters in New York that the day was meant to renew the UN's commitment to help 'vulnerable, voiceless and marginalized people wherever they may be.'

'This is also a day on which we pay tribute to the legions of heroic humanitarian personnel,' Ban said. 'These men and women come from many backgrounds. But they share a conviction that one person's suffering is everyone's responsibility.'

The UN decided to hold the annual World Humanitarian Day on August 19 to 'shine a spotlight' on people in need of assistance worldwide.