Iraqi ambassador leaves U.N. over U.S. 'occupation'

<a href=www2.ocregister.com>Orange County register Saturday, April 12, 2003 From Register news services

He won't work in New York but did not resign. Diplomatic mission stays open.

UNITED NATIONS – Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, said he was leaving the world body because he could no longer work in the United States while it was "destroying, ravaging and killing" his countrymen.

Al-Douri, the first Iraqi official to concede the defeat of President Saddam Hussein's government, planned to leave Friday for Paris, then Damascus, Syria, and eventually to Iraq, Arab diplomats said.

"I am leaving because I don't think I can work in a country that is invading Iraq, destroying, killing and demolishing whatever it wants," Al-Douri told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television Friday.

With tears in his eyes, he added: "It is a country that occupies Iraq from the north to the south, from the east to the west. I don't think this occupying country will allow me enough freedom to work at the United Nations."

Arab diplomats said Al-Douri is not resigning and Iraq's U.N. mission will remain open. The third-ranking diplomat, Said Shihab Ahmad, will become the charge d'affaires, the diplomats said.

Despite three years of publicly defending Saddam's government, Al-Douri said he hopes Iraq is on the path to democracy "without any obstructions and restrictions."

"I would like to find our country free as America has promised," said Al-Douri, a Baghdad University law professor for 30 years and a diplomat for four.

Asked if he feared anything from U.S. authorities, he said: "Not at all. They've always treated me with dignity."

Confusion, denial and paranoia reigned in Iraqi consulates worldwide as diplomats awaited word of their uncertain future. They burned boxes of papers, shredded documents or watched television for any word of home or their new boss.

In Egypt, Iraqi Ambassador Mohsen Khalil approached at least two other embassies seeking asylum, officials said on condition of anonymity.

Muaead Hussain, the Iraqi charge d'affaires in Berlin, spoke through the locked iron gate of his embassy.

"I haven't had contact with Baghdad for two or three weeks," Hussain said. "I have no idea what's going on there."

Hussain insisted he still represents Saddam Hussein's government. Asked whether he might switch allegiance, he said: "Why not? I am serving my country."

In Tokyo, Iraqi diplomats hauled garbage bags stuffed with shredded documents from the embassy. Neighbors said the amount of trash was three times the usual level.

After seeing Saddam's statue tumbling in Baghdad on TV, Iraqi diplomats in Brazil carried box after box of papers outside and set them on fire, according to police.

An embassy official denied it. "It's all lies," Abdu Saif said. "We are only burning debris and recently cut tree branches."

Amid scenes of U.S. troops taking control of Baghdad, Iraq's ambassador in Venezuela, Taha Al-Abassi predicted continued resistance.

"The war does not end, resistance will continue ... I think it will be a long marathon war," he said.

In Vietnam, Ambassador Salah al-Mukhtar took up his post only three weeks ago and immediately warned that if he ran into U.S., British or Australian envoys, he would slap their faces. On Thursday, he said, "I will never shake hands with assassins - definitely. This is our homeland destroyed by British and Americans."

But First Secretary Talal Waleed at the embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, called Saddam's regime "the former government."