Translated material
Ambassador was blown up in Iraq
Russian diplomats were also injured
Today in Iraq, the one-month deadline for carrying out the death sentence of Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed Chemical Ali , expires. As Muslims continue the holy fast of Ramadan, the execution of this associate of Saddam Hussein will likely be delayed by a week or more.However, the overall situation in Iraq during the post-Ramadan period remains turbulent. Yesterday, no less than the Polish ambassador, 57-year-old General Edward Pietrzyk, was wounded there. Two bombs were planted in the business district of Baghdad along the route of an embassy convoy of three cars. Another 11 people, including three of the ambassador's bodyguards, were injured. One of the guards, 29-year-old Bartosz Orechowski, died in hospital from loss of blood. One Iraqi passer-by did not survive the terrorist attack. General Pietrzyk (in this rank he commanded ground forces in Poland) was rushed by American helicopter to a hospital in the heavily guarded Green Zone of Baghdad.
Poland actively supported the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. There are currently 900 Polish troops in Iraq. The casualties of the contingent since March 2003 have already amounted to 21 people. “Bowing to terrorists is the worst possible decision, and I believe that the Poles, as a brave nation, will not desert the battlefield,” Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said upon learning of the ambassador’s injury and the death of the guard.
Russian diplomats have not avoided troubles in Iraq these days either. They, however, suffered less seriously and not from the rebels, but from an American security company. Yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that the country's authorities investigate the incident that happened the other day at the Baghdad airport. Employees of the international security company Global, commanded by an American, tried to inspect the cars of the Russian Embassy in Iraq and even threatened with weapons. There was almost a backlash to this. According to Russian diplomats, “serious consequences” were avoided thanks to the “restraint and composure” of the Russians. The Foreign Ministry recalled that there have already been cases in Iraq when American guards opened fire, killing innocent citizens.