UN Radio: Envoy In Iraq Condemns Attack Of Jordanian Embassy in Iraq

UN Envoy In Iraq Condemns Attack Of Jordanian Embassy in Iraq

The UN Special Representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has strongly condemned today's attack on the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad. At least eight people were killed in the explosion, which totally destroyed the front of the building. Two United Nations staff members were hurt in the attack, one of them seriously. The United Nations spokesman in Iraq, Salim Lone, says the special envoy was appalled by this heinous act.

"He said that the people of Iraq and the people of Baghdad had suffered enough from senseless violence for a long time now and that we must make every effort to make sure that new terror must not be allowed to take root in this country.

Sergio Vieira de Mello said attacking civilians, especially those in a diplomatic mission, was totally unacceptable.

West African Peacekeepers Deploy in Monrovia

Thousands of Liberians in the capital Monrovia came out today to greet the West African peacekeepers as they deployed in the city. A spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that people danced and sang songs saying they wanted peace, no looting and no more war. Mohammed Siryon said the arrival of the peacekeepers has somewhat helped alleviate the humanitarian situation because people can now venture out to look for food.

"Before their arrival people were indoor and would hardly get out to get food. But having said that at the present the NGOs have not been able to access the port of Monrovia where most of the relief items are stored."

The World Food Programme reported that its ship arrived in Monrovia today carrying food supplies.

UN Mission Confirms Killing in Democratic Republic of Congo

A UN investigation team that's looking into allegations of killings in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed that an attack by some people from the Lendu ethnic group did take place in the village of Nyanda. Nine people, including women and children were killed in the attack earlier this week. The Secretary-General's Special Representative in the DRC, William Swing, has strongly condemned the killings. The UN Mission also confirmed that eleven Congolese taken hostage in south Kivu were killed on the 24th of July by the Front for the Defence of Democracy and former Rwandan soldiers fighting alongside the Mai Mai militia in the area. The workers were employees of a British humanitarian organization, Tearfund. The Secretary-General's Special Representative extended his deepest condolences to Tearfund and the families of the victims.

UN Issues Stamps To Commemorate 100th Birthday of Ralph Bunche

The UN Postal Administration today launched a stamp commemorating the centenary of Ralph Bunche, the United States diplomat who was one of the co-authors of the UN Charter. He played a leading role in the creation of UN peacekeeping missions and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan introduced the UN stamp and paid tribute to Ralph Bunche whom he said was one of the heroes of his lifetime. Mr. Annan said the occasion was also to contemplate how Ralph Bunche would view the situation today.

"He would be satisfied, I think, to see what we are doing to improve peacekeeping and other responses to conflict. Yet he would be deeply dismayed that it has taken us so long to take such modest steps, and truly appalled that it took new acts of geneocide to set these changes in motion." UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

WHO Study Shows Young Girls Smoke Cigarettes Almost As Much As Boys

A new report released today at the World Conference on Tobacco in Helsinki shows that young girls are smoking almost as much as young boys. The findings are a result of the largest global survey on tobacco use in over one million adolescents around the world. The results also show that girls and boys are also using non-cigarette tobacco products such as spit tobacco and water pipes at similar rates.