Senior garda to play key role in Iraq’s UN security

A SENIOR garda is set to play a key role in determining future United Nations involvement in Iraq.

Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald has been appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate the security arrangements of UN staff in Iraq.

Mr Fitzgerald is the designated police expert in a four-person international panel set up in the wake of last August’s terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. The panel, led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, will give its recommendations to the secretary general within weeks.

Mr Fitzgerald said yesterday: “I am very conscious that proposals or recommendations that we might bring forward to the secretary general will determine the future of involvement and the degree of involvement of the UN.”

Just last Monday a suicide car-bomber blew himself up, killing an Iraqi security guard and wounding 19 others at a checkpoint to a parking lot used by UN staff.

Mr Fitzgerald has extensive experience in UN missions. He was commissioner of the International Police Task Force in Bosnia 1996-’97, chief of operations in Cambodia in 1992-’93 and regional commander in Namibia in 1989-’90. He also served in El Salvador and Kosova.

Mr Fitzgerald said they would fly to New York today for a briefing and arrive in Baghdad at the weekend.

“The idea is to look at the whole area of safety and security of UN personnel in Iraq. We will look at the circumstances surrounding the August attack and the actions taken by the different parties and actions taken before and after the incident.”

He expected to be back in Dublin within three to four weeks.

Mr Fitzgerald has appointed Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty to work with him in Baghdad. He said Mr Carty would bring considerable experience, including how to deal with demonstrations.