- Iraq is in chaos as America's plans to rebuild the country
fail, it was claimed last night.
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- Former US Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin spoke
out after suicide bombers killed at least 24 people at the UN headquarters
in Baghdad.
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- He said the Bush administration had "dropped the
ball massively" since ousting Saddam Hussein and allowed terrorist
groups to operate.
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- The plan to return the country to the Iraqi people had
failed "spectacularly", leading to a collapse in law and order.
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- He added: "The real problem is chaos - the chaos
that has allowed terrorist organisations and others to come into Iraq where,
let's remember, they weren't before."
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- The bombers drove a concrete lorry packed full of explosives
into the Canal Hotel, the UN base.
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- The front of the three-storey building collapsed, leaving
more than 100 injured and dozens trapped.
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- Among the dead was the UN special representative Sergio
Vieira de Mello. The 55-year-old Brazilian, trapped in the rubble, made
frantic calls to rescuers on his mobile but they could not reach him in
time.
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- Briton Fiona Watson, who worked for him, and Canadian
Christopher Klein-Beekman, Unicef children's fund chief, were also killed.
Charred human remains were discovered in the crater left by the bomb and
body parts were scattered around.
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- The dead were lined up in white bodybags in the car park,
which became a temporary mortuary. The injured waited in the garden for
ambulances and helicopters to take them to hospital.
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- A quick reaction force of 100 American soldiers battled
alongside civilians to free trapped victims.
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- It was revealed that US forces were supposed to have
been in charge of security at the "soft" civilian target.
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- Witnesses said the lorry may have been waved through
several checkpoints before crashing through a security barrier.
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- The toll is the highest since the war. A furious UN spokesman
said workers were distributing humanitarian aid and helping Iraqis develop
a free press and justice system.
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- At least 15 of the dead were UN workers, the others Iraqi
civilians.
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- The blast was so big that windows a mile away were blown
out. As darkness fell, rescuers were still searching for survivors.
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- FBI investigators also arrived and began to sift through
the rubble wearing rubber gloves.
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- Several UK journalists at a press conference were injured.
One, Grant Hodgson, carried victims to safety.
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- He said: "A stream of walking wounded ran, many
screaming, to the press room covered in dust and blood. Disoriented and
with no lights, they desperately searched for an exit. I took people's
hands, directing them to the door.
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- "Some were bleeding heavily and could not walk.
I carried one over my shoulder, stumbling into the sunshine. I carried
six more outside, their blood soaking my clothes.
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- "Bloodied bodies lay on the grass. Some were with
US army medics while others were already dead.
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- "Many had makeshift bandages - the bloodsoaked clothes
of others lucky enough to escape.
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- "I was offered treatment but my gashed left leg
was barely even an injury compared with the carnage I could see all around
me."
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- Suspicion focused on the militant group Ansar al-Islam,
which has links to al-Qaeda and is believed to have bombed the Jordanian
embassy in Baghdad two weeks ago, killing 17 people.
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- UN secretary general Kofi Annan said last night: "Nothing
can excuse this act of unprovoked and murderous violence."
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- President George Bush called the killers "enemies
of the civilised world...they have again shown their contempt for the innocent,
their fear of progress and their hatred of peace."
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- Tony Blair, still on holiday in Barbados, said: "The
perpetrators demonstrated pure cowardice."
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Media Limited 2001.
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