Sgt Sostand
08-25-03, 03:52 PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday it was scaling back the number of people working in Baghdad after receiving warnings that the organization might be a terror target.
Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the ICRC in Baghdad, said the organization had gradually been cutting back the size of its staff since a Sri Lankan aid worker was killed in an attack on a convoy July 22 south of Baghdad.
She said the organization would be keeping about 50 workers in the country, with those being pulled out leaving positions in Baghdad. She said she would be staying.
"We are concerned about the security of the staff working with us and the people who come to visit us. It seems some groups are not willing to let us work normally," Doumani said.
"We are very upset because our services are badly needed," she said, adding that the threat against the agency wasn't specific but there were warnings they could be a target.
Agencies in Iraq have become especially concerned with security since the suicide truck bombing Tuesday of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which killed at least 23 people including chief U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the ICRC in Baghdad, said the organization had gradually been cutting back the size of its staff since a Sri Lankan aid worker was killed in an attack on a convoy July 22 south of Baghdad.
She said the organization would be keeping about 50 workers in the country, with those being pulled out leaving positions in Baghdad. She said she would be staying.
"We are concerned about the security of the staff working with us and the people who come to visit us. It seems some groups are not willing to let us work normally," Doumani said.
"We are very upset because our services are badly needed," she said, adding that the threat against the agency wasn't specific but there were warnings they could be a target.
Agencies in Iraq have become especially concerned with security since the suicide truck bombing Tuesday of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which killed at least 23 people including chief U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.