New terrorist group admits to UN bombing

By Vivienne Walt, Globe Correspondent, 8/22/2003

BAGHDAD -- As the death toll rose to 23 from Tuesday's devastating truck bomb explosion at the United Nations headquarters, an unknown group claimed responsibility for the attack, warning that it was planning further strikes against foreigners in Iraq.

In another emotionally charged day for Iraqis, the US military announced yesterday that troops had captured one of the country's most despised former leaders, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as Chemical Ali for having allegedly organized the gassing of more than 100,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988. The arrest of one of Saddam Hussein's top aides, number five on the US list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, occurred several days ago, according to US Central Command in Tampa.

Iraqis barely had time to absorb that dramatic news. Hours later, a chilling message was announced on the popular Al-Arabiya satellite channel, saying a new terror group had masterminded Tuesday's spectacular explosion, which destroyed the UN headquarters in eastern Baghdad, killing its top diplomat. The so-called Armed Vanguards of the Second Mohammed Army said it planned "to continue fighting every foreigner and to carry out similar operations." Two more US soldiers were killed, the Army said. One died in action south of Baghdad yesterday, while the other, from the First Armored Division, was struck Wednesday night in Baghdad by a homemade explosive device. No further details were available. Two other soldiers were wounded.In New York, the UN Security Council debated how to secure its operation in Iraq. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell weighed a new resolution to try to expand the US-dominated military coalition in Iraq. But on the ground in Baghdad, UN staff members still stricken with grief balked at the possibility that they might be forced to work under heavy armed protection.

"It's not that we have anything against the coalition forces, but you do realize that the presence of coalition forces does intimidate some of the people we need to speak and work with," Ramiro Lopes da Silva, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, told reporters outside his mangled office building. "We serve 27 million Iraqis. We are not here to serve a special group."

The New York Times reported that investigators are looking into the possibility that Iraqi security guards who worked at the UN compound may have assisted the attackers. The newspaper, quoting a senior American official in Iraq, said all the guards previously had been agents of Hussein's secret service.

UN staff members yesterday expressed deeply mixed messages about security, reflecting the agonizing decisions over how to continue operating amid the violence.

Despite their distaste for working behind armed cordons, UN officials continued to insist yesterday that the American military ought to have protected the organization before Tuesday's attack, whether or not the organization had sought US help. "Let us be very clear: Security in Iraq is the responsibility of the CPA," said Salim Lone, the UN spokesman in Iraq, referring to the overwhelmingly American body, the Coalition Provisional Authority, that runs the country. "They are the occupying power."

Some UN employees described a muddled security system that seemed to have neglected glaring gaps.

"A lot of us were sleeping in tents in the back," said Francis Mead, 45, a reporter in Baghdad working for the organization's news agency. "There was no protection."

Mead recalled that he was alarmed after the deaths last month of Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, when Iraqis shot thousands of celebratory rifle rounds into the air. "One of the bullets landed on a tent," Mead said.

Nearly 70 employees camped in tents at the compound as a temporary accommodation, he said.

Mead said that several UN security officers recently had expressed concerns about security gaps. But the officers had warned staff not about bomb attacks, but about "criminality, being robbed or mugged," he said.

Before Tuesday's blast, only one UN armored vehicle was parked inside the UN headquarters, where about 300 people worked. US investigators have said the bomb consisted of a giant brew of military-grade, Soviet-made munitions, most probably from Hussein's arsenal.

The more than 1,000 pounds of explosives included mortar and artillery shells from the 1970s or '80s, bundled around a 500-pound aerial bomb. The flatbed truck stopped on a public lane adjoining the building, directly under the office of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the chief UN diplomat in Iraq, who was killed.

The grim realization set in yesterday that no more survivors would be rescued after three bodies were pulled from the rubble by crews with sniffer dogs. By day's end, the crews imploded parts of the building destroyed by the bomb, fearing that the twisted skeleton could collapse.

Despite pledging that they will continue in Iraq, UN officials announced they were withdrawing about 150 people and transferring administrators to offices in Jordan and Cyprus.

Several others left Baghdad quietly, saying they are taking vacations or cutting short their work. "Things are in disarray," said Alia al-Dalli, a project officer for the United Nations Development Program, as she and several colleagues packed luggage into vehicles outside their downtown hotel, on their way to the airport. In yesterday's announcement about Majid's arrest, US officials did not disclose where the former official had been captured, perhaps to protect informants. His arrest leaves at large only 13 of the 55 most-wanted officials.Majid, a cousin of Hussein, was a terrifying figure for most Iraqis.