IRAQ CRISIS: Weekly round-up Number 72 for 24-30 July

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Key Humanitarian Developments

This week in Iraq saw the worst violence since the handover of power on 28 June. According to international media reports at least 68 people were killed on Wednesday in Baquba, 65 km north-east of Baghdad, when a car bomb exploded outside a police station.

More than 160 Iraqis have been killed in attacks since the interim Iraqi government took power, according to media reports.

This attack came as US Secretary of State Colin Powell was visiting Saudi Arabia along with Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. They were presented with a proposal by Saudi officials to have Muslim troops only in Iraq.

Powell flew into Iraq from Kuwait following his meetings in Saudi Arabia and was expected to meet leading US and Iraqi officials.

Kidnappings of foreign workers inside the country are continuing as security fluctuates there. Two Pakistani men working for a Kuwaiti company were reportedly killed after being held by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq

The kidnappers had threatened to execute the men unless their Kuwaiti employers left Iraq. Engineer, Azad Hussein Khan and driver, Sajjad Naeem, went missing last Friday, according to reports.

Another militant group in Iraq is holding seven foreign truck drivers, three of them Indian. Their Kuwaiti employers are due to make a fresh appeal for their release, the BBC reported.

An Egyptian diplomat abducted on 23 July after leaving Friday prayers in a Baghdad mosque was freed last weekend. Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb said the kidnappers released him due to the
"religious faith and moral qualities he possesses." Their statement was broadcast on the Arab TV news channel al-Jazeera.

Qutb was the most senior official to have been abducted in Iraq. He said he "thanked God and all... who worked for my release," the AFP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, as preparations continue for a January 2005 election to elect a national parliament, a national conference paving the way for polls to have taken place this week, was put on hold, according to international media reports.

Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed the value of the meeting, advocating an inclusive and transparent national conference in Iraq.

Responding to press questions at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, a UN spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, said the Secretary-General strongly believed that the gathering could contribute to stability in the country.

"Creating the conditions for a successful outcome to the conference is therefore more important than holding it on time," she said. A small team of UN experts helped to prepare for the meeting. Some 1,000 Iraqis are expected to gather in Baghdad for a three-day meeting to select a 100-member national council.

CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Focus on 'brain drain' due to insecurity and freedom
IRAQ: Multi-million dollar programme for marshes in south
IRAQ: Funding delays opening of women's library in north
IRAQ: Interview with Interior Ministry spokesman
IRAQ: Challenges remain in north following transfer of power
IRAQ: Families leave as tension rises in Samarrah
IRAQ: Focus on dog demining

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