The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
295.
Mr Hoon’s
Private Secretary wrote to Mr Blair’s office that the MOD did
not see a
link to
previous incidents and there was “no reason … to suppose that they
represent a
trend”. He
added:
“It is
worth noting that the number of UK Servicemen killed by enemy
action since
the
beginning of May is now greater than the number killed during major
combat
operations
in March and April.”
On 19
August, a bomb exploded outside UN headquarters at the Canal Hotel,
Baghdad. It
killed 22
UN staff and visitors, including Mr Vieira de
Mello.164
No.10
officials told Mr Blair that “It was a large explosion – about
a ton of explosives,
Lieutenant
General Andrew Ridgway, Chief of Defence Intelligence, told the
Chiefs of Staff
on 20
August that:
“Further
attacks were expected. The bombing would affect coalition building,
NGO
confidence,
and the reconstruction of utilities, which if not expedited could
lead to a
significant
loss of consent.”166
There was a
second bomb attack on the UN on 22 September.167
One member
of DFID staff was slightly injured in the first
attack.168
The FCO and
DFID immediately reviewed security for staff in Iraq; security
advisers
said that
they were “generally content” with security arrangements for UK
staff in CPA
Baghdad,
but made a number of recommendations for improvement.
At the
time, it was unclear who was responsible for the attack, but it was
considered that
the method
and target suggested Islamist extremists rather than Ba’ath Party
loyalists.169
Sir John
Sawers told the Inquiry that the attacks were subsequently
attributed to
164
Report of
the Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of UN Personnel in
Iraq, 20
October 2003,
page
13.
165
Minute
No.10 [junior official] to Prime Minister, 19 August 2003, ‘Update
on Baghdad UN Bombing:
19:45’.
166
Minutes, 20
August 2003, Chiefs of Staff meeting.
167
Report of
the Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of UN Personnel in
Iraq, 20
October 2003,
page
16.
168 Annotated
Agenda, 29 August 2003, Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation
meeting; Minutes,
29 August 2003,
Ad Hoc Group on Iraq Rehabilitation meeting.
169
Briefing
Cabinet Office, 20 August 2003, ‘Iraq: Update for Ministers, 21
August 2003’.
170
Public
hearing, 16 December 2009, page 36.
256