12 February 2004 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert today condemned the continued violence in Iraq. On Tuesday, a car bomb in Iskandariya killed at least 54 people and wounded at least 60 others, most of them Iraqi men who were applying for jobs at the police station. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber
careened a car packed with explosives into a crowd of Iraqi Army recruits in central Baghdad, killing at least 47 and wounding at least 50 others.

“We condemn these acts of violence against the Iraqi people and offer our sympathies to the victims and their families.  These attacks are also vicious and dastardly blows against the valiant attempts of the Iraqi people to build a new country,” Secretary Albert said, noting that the attacks were against Iraq police and army recruits and appears to be timed to intimidate a delegation of United Nations election experts who recently arrived to determine if early elections can be held in Iraq.  “We must not allow these terrorists to succeed in weakening our resolve to help the people of Iraq in their quest for peace and development,” she added.

The Secretary said that the members of the Philippine Humanitarian Contingent to Iraq remain safe and continue to make a major difference in the lives of the people of Iraq. “Our men and women in Iraq have been very successful in helping the Iraqi people.  They are doing their job very well and are doing our nation
proud.  Their hard work, dedication, self-sacrifice, uncommon valor and unique skills have won them praise and recognition,” the Secretary said, noting the TIME magazine article on the Philippine Contingent.

 The Secretary, who chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force for Humanitarian Assistance to Iraq, also said that the Task Force continues to work on extending the stay of the Philippine Contingent.  “We hope to stay for another six months in Iraq.  We are now in the process of tapping some of the savings from the funds given to the Task Force,” the Secretary said. END.