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Looting, Chaos, Lawlessness Envelope Baghdad
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Iraqi civilians push carts loaded with goods after looting a government warehouse on a main road leading into Baghdad
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AMMAN,
April 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Chaos, looting,
lawlessness and disorder are now the key features of the Iraqi capital
after the U.S. troops had poured into it earlier on Wednesday, April
9, and sent a towering bronze statue of Saddam Hussein crashing to the
ground amid loud cheers from a handful of Iraqis.
U.N.
aid agencies warned Wednesday, April 9, that looting and a breakdown
of law in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities could severely hinder their
efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the war-battered
population, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Aid
workers using Jordan as a forward base to monitor developments in Iraq
also urged U.S. and British troops to restore law and order in that
country to avert what they said could become a "humanitarian
catastrophe."
"With
the breakdown of law and order in Iraq, the situation now is extremely
critical," David Wimhurst, spokesman for the U.N. Humanitarian
Coordinator for Iraq (UNHCI) Ramiro Lopes da Silva, told a press
conference in Amman.
Wimhurst
warned that widespread looting in Baghdad and Basra, Iraq's two major
cities, as well as the collapse of civilian authority must be
addressed by the occupying military forces.
"They
have a responsibility under international humanitarian law to maintain
a secure environment for the civilian population," he said,
echoing statements made by spokespersons for the major U.N. agencies
operating in Jordan.
"The
longer the situation remains out of control, the more difficult it
will be to start humanitarian relief operations and the greater the
delay in beginning the work of reconstruction," Wimhurst warned.
Chaos
Might Result In Civil War
Peter
Kessler, of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), warned
that "lawlessness" in Iraq could force a population
displacement and trigger "revenge attacks among certain parts of
the Iraqi society" if it were not controlled.
The
UNHCR "fears that growing chaos in Iraq's cities and the
precarious humanitarian situation could combine to spark the
displacement of civilians", Kessler said in a statement read at a
press conference.
"We
urge the occupying forces to take immediate measures to restore and
maintain law and order and to ensure that humanitarian assistance
flows to those who need it," he said.
"War
is still ongoing and the euphoria apparent in some cities can be
easily replaced by violence. We're very concerned that people may be
displaced at this critical stage," Kessler said.
The
World Food Program (WFP) and the U.N. agency for children (UNICEF)
reported looting at food warehouses as well as schools and government
facilities in Basra, respectively.
"We
need to operate in a safe environment in order to deliver food
successfully. Unless law and order prevail it will be extremely
difficult to guarantee that 480,000 tones of food reach the people
each month," said WFP spokesman Maarten Roest.
A
statement from UNICEF's representative to Iraq, Carel de Rooey, read
at the press conference warned that "what is horribly worrying
about the looting, chaos and breakdown of order is that the systems we
counted on may completely collapse."
World
Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Fadela Chaib also reminded
coalition forces "of their obligation to protect the neutrality
of medical facilities and health workers".
Iraqis
were seen breaking into shops, homes and government facilities to
steal furniture, food, electrical equipment and carpets.
In
the north of the capital, citizens rampaged through the interior and
irrigation ministries, gutting the offices, while symbols of Saddam's
iron grip on the country took the brunt of people's anger.
Red
Cross Suspends Baghdad Operations
Meanwhile,
Red Cross officials suspended aid deliveries in Baghdad on Wednesday
after a staff member was killed when his vehicle was caught in
crossfire in the Iraqi capital.
The
body of Vatche Arslanian, a Canadian aid worker for the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was recovered on Wednesday
afternoon, ICRC spokeswoman Nada Doumani said.
Arslanian
had gone missing after two ICRC vehicles, which were clearly marked
with the agency's red cross emblem, were caught in crossfire on
Tuesday afternoon, Doumani told AFP.
She
said that the incident and the "chaotic" security situation
with fighting in Baghdad prompted the ICRC team -- one of the only
groups of international aid workers there -- to temporarily suspend
their operations in Baghdad.
"He
was caught in crossfire. About a dozen people were killed in the same
incident, other cars were caught up in the shooting, although our car
did have the emblem," Doumani said.
Two
other staff members who had been in the two Red Cross cars managed to
escape and raise the alarm.
"I
can confirm that we recovered the body. Two of our colleagues went to
seek the body this afternoon, about 20 hours after the incident,"
she added.
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