UN security officer gave information to bombers: Iraqi TV

AFP ^ | 8/25/03 | Staff

[TastyManatees]

UN security officer gave information to bombers: Iraqi TV (9:58 am)

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi security guard at the UN headquarters in Baghdad helped attackers launch the suicide bombing there which killed 23 people, including the world body's top envoy to the country, US-run Iraqi television reported Sunday.

"Iraqi official sources confirmed a security agent had given information to the plotters of the attack in which a car laden with explosives (was detonated) next to the office of Sergio Vieira de Mello," the UN special envoy, the Iraq Media Network television channel said.

The television did not say if the security guard had been arrested.

"He had given them the building layout, including the office of Vieira de Mello," it said.

The FBI has begun questioning UN security guards, a UN source said.

A UN official told AFP Friday that Iraqi security guards at the UN's Baghdad headquarters aided the plotters of the attack.

"They clearly had support from Iraqi security guards inside who gave intelligence to the planners of the attack," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It was a well-prepared attack. The target was Sergio Vieira de Mello, that much is clear," he said.

"They knew where Vieira de Mello's office was and they knew they would find him in his office and they packed the vehicle with the maximum amount of explosives. The vehicle was positioned in the spot where it would make that part of the building collapse," the official said.

He said some of the Iraqi guards at the Canal Hotel, where the UN headquarters were located, had been hired under the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein and had links with the fallen dictator's intelligence services.

On Tuesday afternoon, an Eastern European flatbed truck, packed with about 700 pounds (300 kilograms) of Soviet munitions, came speeding into the UN compound, drove up to the section of the building where Vieira de Mello's office was located and exploded. AFP

[TastyManatees]

"[S]ome of the Iraqi guards at the Canal Hotel, where the UN headquarters were located, had been hired under the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein and had links with the fallen dictator's intelligence services." What a tragic lack of judgment.

Tasty manatees

[goldstategop]

I'm shocked. Actually only those who know of the UN's predilection for dictators and terrorists saw this coming. The UN is still oblivious to the truth and as if to punctuate the irony, one of the Middle East's leading terrorist states, Syria, delivered the UNs statement against terrorism! Go figure.

[DoughtyOne]

And they're still employing them. They are afraid if they fire them, they'll come back and attack. Sheesh. Now there's some pretty good security.

One UN envoy explained that they still won't step up security. "That's just not the way they operate." Talk about dense.

People just turn dumb as a stump when they go to work for the U.N.

[samtheman]

I doubt if that information was difficult to acquire. The terrorist maggots went to the easiest source. A traitor guard. Lacking that opportunity, I think they would have been able to find out what they needed to know by other means. This was a UN building, not a military installation. Those maggots are good at killing unarmed humans, and certainly don't need much "intelligence" to get the job done.

The more difficult job is killing the maggots themselves, especially wiping them out in their nests before they come out into the light of day to infect us all with their poisons. Israel has shown us in recent days some effective methods of maggot eradication. I only hope that the CIA is out there cleansing the planet as much as possible, doing what it can to rid earth of this infestation of these terrible insects.

[Delmarksman]

That's not being fair to "Stumps" (/sarcasm)

[skinkinthegrass]

I'm shocked. Actually only those who know of the UN's predilection for dictators and terrorists saw this coming. The UN is still oblivious to the truth and as if to punctuate the irony, one of the Middle East's leading terrorist states, Syria, delivered the UNs statement against terrorism! Go figure

I'm surprized, The Syrians were more cheerful, given their record on Terrorism ....K. Annon is very disappointed(and confused..."We're helped Saddam stay in power.") :|

[DoughtyOne]

I think you should pull that < /sarcasm > off.

You're right.

[Peach]

A UN security guard. And the left want us to bring the UN on board. I don't think so.

[rrrod]

the un attacked the un....nuff said

[Mind-numbed Robot]

People just turn dumb as a stump when they go to work for the U.N.

No, it is a prerequisite. They only hire those who have flunked Human Shield School.

[Sacajaweau]

Good point Peach.

This is a good example of "UN Leadership"..minimum protection and hire Saddam loyalists as their protective force.

If I remember correctly, the USA weeded out the ranking loyalists and wouldn't even consider hiring them as local police.

[ClancyJ]

Remember the UN is run and controlled by dictatorships. They never suspected that they would be a target. Shows that the Iraqis are not international political experts.

[genefromjersey]

There is (perhaps) an interesting postscript: The attack may have been planned well in advance.

A few nights ago, NBC News ran a brief "sob story" about this "brave young woman" who was lost in the blast.

Let's see: She was of Palestinian origin.She left a sick bed (serious throat infection) against medical advice to follow deMello to Iraq.She talked often of death and dying, and, before she left,(the voice-over said,oozing sympathy),she gave all her possessions away.

Ummmmm...Haven't we heard this before ? I wonder if she made a videotape......

[Libertina]

The television did not say if the security guard had been arrested.
How could they be arresting these poor people? No doubt Kofi Anan is busily composing a letter blaming the US for pressuring them and making them resort to desperate actions... /s

[DoughtyOne]

LOL

[mewzilla]

Has anyone seen a list of victims?

[george wythe]

Five more bodies recovered

At the bombed U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, searchers were seen pulling five more bodies from the rubble. It was not immediately clear if the bodies were among the U.N. count of 20 dead.

An independent check by The Associated Press at nearby hospitals after the Tuesday bombing put the number of dead at 23. The top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among those killed in the suicide truck bomb attack.

[george wythe]

Has anyone seen a list of victims?

Here it is a partial list of UN workers:

Sergio Vieira de Mello,UN Special Representative
Nadia Younes, his Chief of Staff

Jean-Selim Kanaan of Egypt
Fiona Watson of the United Kingdom
Reham Al-Farra of Jordan

Alyawi Bassem of Iraq
Ranillo Buenaventura of the Philippines
Reza Hosseini of Iran
Martha Teas of the United States

Rick Hooper of the United States
Chris Klein-Beckman of Canada
Alya Souza of Iraq
Ihsan Taha Husein of Iraq

[dts32041]

Vieira de Mello, was trageted because he handed the fascist ilsalmists a peaceful defeat in east timor.

It was pay back time.