UN 'extremely' worried for Palestinians in Iraq

GENEVA, Oct 20 (Reuters) The United Nations refugee agency expressed renewed concern today about the fate of Palestinians in Iraq after four people were killed in a mortar attack on a Palestinian neighbourhood in Baghdad.

A dozen people were wounded, some of them seriously, in the attack on the Al Baladiya district yesterday night and many people were forced to flee, a UNHCR spokesman said.

Ambulances where reportedly turned away by armed militia, spokesman Ron Redmond said, without giving details about the identity of the attackers.

The UNHCR has often called attention to the frequent threats against the some 20,000 Palestinians living in Iraq, where sectarian violence, revenge killings and attacks on US-led coalition forces claim some 100 lives a day.

Displaced from their land when Israel was founded in 1948, Palestinians are seen as having been favoured by toppled former ruler Saddam Hussein, who often gave them the homes of Iraqis evicted for opposing his government.

Many stayed in Iraq because they had no alternative, Redmond told a news briefing.

''They have not had much option and we are extremely concerned at the plight of those remaining,'' he said, adding that it was the responsibility of the Iraqi government and coalition forces to provide protection.

Following the latest violence, more could try to leave for Syria and Jordan but both countries had closed their borders to Palestinians, Redmond said.

There are already some 340 Palestinians camped in no-man's land on the Syrian border and Redmond said the UNHCR was appealing to Jordan and Syria to let in Palestinians.

Other Arab countries should also help by offering to take some, he said.

REUTERS BDP BST1817