Victims of Halabja Chemical Weapons Attack

IRAQ: UN Envoy Pays Tribute to Victims of Halabja Chemical Weapons Attack

New York, Oct 21 2011 1:10PM
The United Nations envoy for Iraq today visited the country’s northern city of Halabja and toured the memorial for the victims of a notorious chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the then government against the local Kurdish population in March 1988.

“The Halabja museum and memorial will serve as an everlasting reminder of one of the worst atrocities committed by the previous regime and of our duty to honour the memory of all victims who perished at the hands of a ruthless dictatorship,” said Martin Kobler, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Saddam Hussein’s regime killed some 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in a chemical weapons attack on the city 23 years ago.

“This monument shall remind us for generations to come that we must stand firm against targeting individuals, communities and people for ethnic and religious reasons, or any other reason,” said Mr. Kobler.

He also visited the cemetery of the victims of Halabja’s massacre where he laid a wreath, accompanied the Mayor of Halabja, Goran Adham, and other city officials.

He later travelled to Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where he is scheduled to meet with senior officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Oct 21 2011 1:10PM

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