SG/SM/10002
IK/503
14 July 2005

Secretary-General “Repulsed and Outraged” by Killing of Large Number of Children in Baghdad Suicide Bombing

NEW YORK, 13 July (UN Headquarters) -- The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is repulsed and outraged by the deaths of a large number of children, among other civilians, in the latest suicide bombing today in Baghdad.  He condemns in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence.

As the Secretary-General has said repeatedly, there can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of civilians -– much less children, who are our hope for the future.  Nothing will be accomplished by today’s killing of innocents.

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