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Annan in No Hurry to Send U.N. Staff Back to Iraq

Secretary-General Kofi Annan made clear on Friday he was in no hurry to send staff back to Iraq following a highly critical report of security lapses before the August attack on U.N. offices in Baghdad. A 40-page probe by an independent panel said a “dysfunctional” U.N. security system led to unnecessary deaths in the Aug. 19 bombing that killed 22 people. Annan has left a core staff of 15-20 people, mainly aid officials, in Iraq after a second bomb attack on U.N. headquarters on Sept. 22 that killed Iraqi police. Since the two bomb attacks against us, we have had to rethink our own approach and our own presence and that will be a factor in our decision to increase our staff in Iraq,” Annan said. He added that many aspects needed to be worked out “to see exactly what kind of security, what arrangements, who is going to do what and what we will do ourselves.” Full Story