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02/02/2004
Straw condemns Irbil suicide bombings
Two suicide bombs in northern Iraq, which claimed at least 56 lives, has been described as an "unspeakable tragedy", by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Mr Straw was speaking after two suicide bombers struck separately at the offices of US-supported Kurdish political parties in the town of Irbil yesterday. Around 235 people were injured in the attacks which targeted Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) buildings.
The Irbil bombings followed two separate incidents on Saturday. Nine people were killed and at least 45 were injured when a suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi police station in Mosul. And in the second attack, three US soldiers were killed when their patrol passed by a roadside bomb in between Tikrit and Kirkuk.
Mr Straw said that yesterday's blasts were "all the more horrific" given that the Muslim population was celebrating the religious festival of Eid al-Adha.
"The perpetrators sought to derail the future being built for the people of all Iraq. But I know that the vision of a free and fair Iraq, where peoples of different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and political views live and work together in respect and harmony, will live on, in honour of those who lost their lives yesterday."
Mr Straw paid tribute to one of the dead, Sami Abdul Rahman, deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, whom the foreign secretary described as a "loss for the whole of Iraq".
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who is in Iraq on a visit, said that the perpetrators were not concerned with Islam nor with other Muslims, "they are about their own fanatical view of the world and they will kill to try to advance it. But we are winning and they are losing".
The head of the administration in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, voiced his "anger and dismay" over the bombings.
In a statement, Mr Bremer said: "On behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority, I want to express my outrage at today's terrorist bombings in Irbil, which constituted a cowardly attack on both innocent human beings, as well as on the very principle of democratic pluralism in Iraq."
He also pledged to "find, capture and bring to justice" those responsible.
(gmcg)
Mr Straw was speaking after two suicide bombers struck separately at the offices of US-supported Kurdish political parties in the town of Irbil yesterday. Around 235 people were injured in the attacks which targeted Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) buildings.
The Irbil bombings followed two separate incidents on Saturday. Nine people were killed and at least 45 were injured when a suicide bomber attacked an Iraqi police station in Mosul. And in the second attack, three US soldiers were killed when their patrol passed by a roadside bomb in between Tikrit and Kirkuk.
Mr Straw said that yesterday's blasts were "all the more horrific" given that the Muslim population was celebrating the religious festival of Eid al-Adha.
"The perpetrators sought to derail the future being built for the people of all Iraq. But I know that the vision of a free and fair Iraq, where peoples of different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and political views live and work together in respect and harmony, will live on, in honour of those who lost their lives yesterday."
Mr Straw paid tribute to one of the dead, Sami Abdul Rahman, deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, whom the foreign secretary described as a "loss for the whole of Iraq".
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who is in Iraq on a visit, said that the perpetrators were not concerned with Islam nor with other Muslims, "they are about their own fanatical view of the world and they will kill to try to advance it. But we are winning and they are losing".
The head of the administration in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, voiced his "anger and dismay" over the bombings.
In a statement, Mr Bremer said: "On behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority, I want to express my outrage at today's terrorist bombings in Irbil, which constituted a cowardly attack on both innocent human beings, as well as on the very principle of democratic pluralism in Iraq."
He also pledged to "find, capture and bring to justice" those responsible.
(gmcg)
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