23aug03

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UK embassy in Iraq evacuated after 'credible threat'.

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Diplomats and staff at Britain's embassy in Baghdad have evacuated the building after a "credible threat" of attack, the Foreign Office said.

A Foreign Office Spokesman in London said the staff were moved from the building on Wednesday, a day after the devastating truck bombing at the United Nation's Baghdad headquarters, which killed 24 people and wounded scores more.

"The embassy staff were moved to the Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters after information of a credible threat of attack," the spokesman said.

"I have no more information about the threat ... there are no immediate plans to return the staff to the embassy," he added.

A previously unknown Islamist group has claimed responsibility for the UN headquarters bombing, according to an Arab television channel.

The truck bombing, which US officials have blamed on Saddam Hussein loyalists or Islamic extremists, raised fears of a growing and widespread campaign to target Western targets in Iraq.

The head of the UN mission in Iraq, Sergio Vieria de Mello, and one Briton were among the dead in Tuesday's attack.

Britain reopened its embassy in Iraq in May with a team headed by Christopher Segar, the former deputy head of mission.

He was among those evacuated from the embassy on Wednesday, the Foreign Office said.

Britain has been Washington's main ally in the campaign in which President Saddam Hussein was ousted from power and the subsequent occupation of Iraq.

[Source: Australian Broadcasting Company, Reuters, 23Aug03]

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