UN staff safety in Iraq top priority, Ban says

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17 (Reuters) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose agreement to expand the UN mission in Iraq has drawn fire from some staff, told a meeting today to honor UN employees killed there in 2003 that safety was paramount.

A bomb blast four years ago at the UN headquarters in Baghdad's Canal Hotel killed 22 people including the Brazilian mission chief, Sergio Vieira de Mello, often mentioned as a candidate for secretary-general.

More than 150 people were wounded.

This month's decision by the Security Council to give the United Nations a broader mandate in Iraq, implying an increase in staff numbers, was an opportunity to carry forward the work of Vieira de Mello and his colleagues, Ban said.

''Yet I understand the fears and concerns some staff may have about any expansion,'' he told the commemoration ceremony in the public lobby of the General Assembly building.

''That is why I affirm to you today that any such measure remains strictly subject to conditions on the ground -- your safety is and always will be a paramount concern.'' The UN Staff Union has called on Ban not to send any more people to Baghdad and to withdraw the 50 or so international staff currently living and working in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic complex.

UN plans to expand premises there would accommodate up to 95 staff, officials say.

In an allusion to the dispute, Geraldine Harris of UN Radio, who lost a colleague in Baghdad in 2003, told today's ceremony, ''While risk is part of our work, its minimization must also feature highly on our agendas.'' The US-initiated Security Council resolution calls on the world body, whose work in Iraq has been limited mainly to electoral and human rights issues, to promote national reconciliation and dialogue between Iraq and its neighbors.

Ban threw his weight behind that plan at a meeting with US President George W Bush last month.

REUTERS SR RAI2204