U.N. PULLING OUT?
ThisisLondon (via Drudge) reports that,
The UN said today that it was removing all foreign employees from Baghdad to Jordan. Five planes are expected at Baghdad airport to fly staff out of the country.
The evacuation will be seen as a major setback for the peace process in Iraq.
While the British and American troops are seen by Iraqis as an occupying force, the UN officials are perceived by many Iraqis to be engaged in helping the country move towards a new era of self-government.
I’ll look for other sources. I do wonder, however, who’s doing this fine opinion polling in Iraq. . . .
Update (0945): Neither WaPo, NYT, nor Reuters is carrying the story. Indeed, Reuters reports just the opposite:
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said U.N. staff would remain in Iraq despite the bomb attack.
“We will continue our work…We will persevere, we have work to do,” he said in Stockholm. “We will not be intimidated.”
Many of the wounded were being evacuated from Iraq.
I’m rather skeptical of the ThisisLondon report.
