Powell visits Kurdish memorial in Iraq
As the United Nations Security Council meets again today to discuss the reconstruction of Iraq, and the possibility of forming a UN-mandated peacekeeping force, US secretary of state Colin Powell is continuing his tour of the war-torn country.
Mr. Powell arrived yesterday on what is his first trip to Iraq since the American-led invasion back in March.
He spent today in the town of Halabja, north-east of Baghdad, attending the dedication of a monument to the 5,000 Kurds who were reportedly gassed to death by Saddam Hussein’s forces in 1988.
Mr. Powell took the opportunity to claim that the West should have acted sooner to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and he has stressed that the US forces in the region are liberators not occupiers. But his presence in Iraq has not stopped the barrage of attacks on coalition service personnel.
Yesterday, one solider was killed and three were injured at Fallujah, and a second attack took place earlier today when a rocket-propelled grenade hit an armoured unit in Baghdad, resulting in another fatality.
Colin Powell has conceded that security is still a major concern, but he has dismissed suggestions that an Iraqi government should be allowed to replace US operations as soon as next month.
The White House yesterday admitted to problems in its handling of post-war operations in Iraq, following President Bush’s request to Congress last week for a further $87bn to fund its military presence in the region.
