ICRC concerns in Iraq
| 12 January 2007
The fate of Iraqi Red Crescent staff and volunteers abducted from their office in Baghdad in December remains a matter of deep concern, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.
The Iraqi Red Crescent suspended its operations in the Iraqi capital following the capture of around 30 people on 17 December.
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 | | | Georges Comninos, ICRC head of the Middle East and North Africa, was speaking this week at the UK Office of the British Red Cross in London on the situation in war-torn Iraq.
“We have had no new developments on the mass kidnapping,” he said. “A large number of people remain unaccounted for, including Iraqi Red Crescent members of staff and volunteers.” | |
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Comninos praised the work of the Iraqi Red Crescent, whom he described as “by far the biggest humanitarian actor in Iraq”.
“The majority of the ICRC’s emergency relief is done through the Iraqi Red Crescent who are vital in distributing food and aid throughout all 18 provinces of the country,” he said.
Civilian appeals for the Iraqi Red Crescent to resume its work in Baghdad, he said, is a testament to their high-standing in the country. The national society has continued to work across the rest of Iraq.
Since the war began in March 2003, the ICRC has suffered five fatalities and as a result it greatly reduced its staff, with no expatriates currently based in central Iraq.
Despite the enormous risks, the ICRC was able to implement 94 per cent of its programme in 2006. This included medical aid and surgical supplies to hospitals with mass casualties, rehabilitating more than 50 health facilities, supporting orthopaedic centres and providing clean water supplies.
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