U.N. Mission In Baghdad Under Scrutiny
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
UNITED NATIONS – Allegations of wrongdoing at the U.N. mission in Iraq are being investigated by Turtle Bay’s internal investigative arm, according to several sources in Iraq and New York. Earlier this week, investigators entered the Baghdad residence of Secretary-General Annan’s envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, and seized a computer and other materials, according to the sources.
A U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, acknowledged yesterday that the Office of Internal Oversight Services is looking into allegations of wrongdoing at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, but he insisted that Mr. Annan has “full confidence” in Mr. Qazi.
Several sources familiar with the U.N. work in Iraq said yesterday that three OIOS teams are operating at the UNAMI offices in Jordan, Kuwait, and inside Baghdad’s so-called green zone, where the U.N. mission is located, in an attempt to sort through the allegations.
Mr. Annan “has full confidence in the work Mr. Qazi is doing and has been doing under very difficult circumstances,” Mr. Dujarric told The New York Sun yesterday. “But as a matter of course, whenever allegations of wrongdoings are raised, they are looked into by OIOS.”
Several U.N. missions around the world have been under scrutiny recently, and the procurement department is under internal investigation as well as criminal investigation by New York and federal attorneys. Procurement at the United Nations, and specifically at missions like the one in Iraq, suffer from lack of internal oversight, the U. N. official said.
Mr. Qazi, a Pakistani diplomat, was named by Mr. Annan to be his envoy to Iraq in 2004, after the United Nations retreated from any activity in Iraq following the August 19, 2003 bombing of its headquarters at the Baghdad Canal Hotel. The blast killed 22 U.N. workers, including the head of the mission at the time, the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello, and became a milestone in the organization’s involvement in Iraq.
Because of security fears, as well as political concerns, for months the United Nations remained largely on the sidelines in the rebuilding of Iraq. Since Mr. Qazi was named to head the mission, however, it has grown steadily.
There are now 110 civilians at UNAMI, who are protected by a U.N. security detail of 100 troops from Fiji. The perimeter of the compound is also heavily protected by American troops, who are assigned to protect the Fijian troops.
