UN envoy condemns bomb attack on Jordanian mission in Iraq as ‘heinous act’

The top United Nations envoy in Iraq today strongly condemned the deadly attack on the Jordanian diplomatic mission in Baghdad as a “heinous act” which resulted in the deaths of numerous innocent people and for which there could be no possible justification.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative, said he was appalled by “this terrible incident,” in which at least nine people were reported killed and several dozen injured when a truck bomb exploded outside the Jordanian embassy compound in the Iraqi capital.

The people of Iraq – the people of Baghdad – have suffered enough from senseless violence, Mr. Vieira de Mello’s office said in a statement. New terror must not be allowed to take root in this country. There can be no justification whatsoever for such actions.

“I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who might have lost their lives or been injured by this terrible incident, as well as to the Governing Council and people of Iraq and to His Majesty King Abdullah II, the Government and people of Jordan,” he added.

On the political front today, Mr. Vieira de Mello's Senior Political Adviser, Ghassan Salame, referred to a certain "impatience" over lack of Security Council action on recent developments, including an address to it last month from the Iraqi Governing Council and Mr. Annan's report calling for a full-fledged UN mission to be set up in Iraq to be called UNAMI (UN Assistance Mission in Iraq).

"We hope that the Security Council can now be more active in finding a consensus and in sending this message to the Iraqis," Mr. Salame told a briefing in Baghdad.

He said the Governing Council was "somehow expecting an answer" and Mr. Annan's report also suggested a timetable would be proposed by the Security Council "to the twenty-four million Iraqis who would like to know more about their future and what to expect in the next few months or years.

"We expected the Security Council to come up at least with a presidential statement," he added.