Minister Dermot Ahern condemns attacks in Baghdad

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., has condemned the series of gun and bomb attacks in Baghdad today which have taken the lives of more than 150 Iraqi civilians, and caused injuries to hundreds more.  In the worst of the attacks, over 100 people were killed early this morning by a car bomb in the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad. 

Speaking from New York, where he is attending the United Nations Summit, Minister Ahern said:

“The terrible attacks in Baghdad today will stand condemned by all those who have the interests of the Iraqi people at heart.  I am appalled by the loss of life and the widespread injuries caused by this latest series of bomb attacks targeting innocent civilians.  Our thoughts today are with the Iraqi people, but especially with the injured and the families of those so brutally killed. 

The aim of the perpetrators of these attacks is to create chaos by dividing the communities in Iraq.  Ireland and our partners in the EU will continue to support the people of Iraq as they work through the difficult political process of negotiating a better, democratic future for their country.”

ENDS ++++
14th September 2005
Press Section