Baghdad Killings Condemned
The senior United Nations envoy to Iraq condemned "in the strongest possible terms" today's deadly bombing in Baghdad as
well as the kidnapping of an Iraqi member of parliament, calling for his immediate release.
Ashraf Qazi said the blast in the Sadr City neighborhood, which caused the death and injury of dozens of innocent Iraqi
civilians, was "a particularly abhorrent and despicable crime apparently aimed at sabotaging the prospects of national
reconciliation."
In a statement released by the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), he also condemned the kidnapping of Iraqi
parliament member Taiseer Al-Mashhadani, and called for his "early and safe release."
Mr. Qazi voiced hope that measures recently adopted by the new Government "will rapidly succeed in preventing such
criminal acts of violence which targets innocent civilians."
Ends