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Today, the SRSG, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and his team traveled to the City of Hilla, about 100 km, South of Baghdad. He first met Iskandar Jawad Witwit, the Governor of Governorate of Babylon, where Hilla is the major city.
The Governor briefed the SRSG on the security and economic situation of the City and the Governorate; security in the city, he said, had been restored, there was little looting and robbery, and the local police, which was formed after the fall of the former regime, is now in control. He said relations with the CPA were friendly and there were no attacks recorded on the Coalition Forces. The city has suffered greatly at the hands of the former regime. When it collapsed, its population had fled the area to more secure areas to the north. This may explain the relatively smooth transitional take over of the current local authority. The Governor said that schools had reopened, university resumed classes and hospitals were functioning.
The SRSG said that his visit comes as part of his endeavour to meet and listen to representatives of a large spectrum of Iraqi society. This was his fourth trip to the regions and he was keen to hear directly from the Iraqis and learn from them how best they can run their country and how they will receive the soon to be announced the "Interim Governing Council", as a transitional arrangement until a more representative Iraqi Government will be in place.
The Governor thanked the SRSG and his team for this visit and asked Mr. Vieira de Mello to play a larger role in the affairs of Iraq, as the people of Iraq trusted the United Nations as a neutral party.
The SRSG and his team then visited a school and saw the students taking the end of year exams. This was followed by a visit to a local hospital, where they were briefed by the doctors about the dire situation of medical supplies and equipment.
The team met Sayyid Farqad Qazwini, a ranking clergy, at the Religious University of Hilla. Sayyid Qazwini underlined two points:
Sayyid Qazwini also suggested that the UN should be a third party running the affairs of Iraq together with the Iraqis and the CPA.
The SRSG thanked Sayyid Qazwini for his trust in the UN and emphasized that the UN is mandated to assist the Iraqi people at the humanitarian, reconstruction and political levels.
After a working lunch at the WFP office, Sergio spoke to Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi saying:
"This is part of visits that I am paying to different provinces in Iraq. When I arrived I said Iraq is not just Baghdad. I have also felt that I had to visit those regions that Iraqis feel under the Sadddam regime were all decisions were concentrated in Baghdad. It was a centralized regime, a centralized form of government. Hence the importance of going to the provinces and listening to the views of the people in different parts of the country, and Hilla is a very an important point of opinion, of history of culture. And I felt I had to visit it sooner or later especially after visiting Najaf ten days ago."
In the way back to Baghdad Sergio and his team visited "Kifl" Tomb, a holy place for Muslims and Jews were the Talmud was written.
The second stop was at the famous site of Babylon. The Gate of Ishtar and the place where the hanging Gardens of Babylon was originally built were visited.
Back in Baghdad, the SRSG met this afternoon, with Mr. Brunson McKinley, Director-General of IOM. They reviewed the political process in Iraq and the impending formation "Interim Governing Council", the importance of proper planning the return of refugees and the role of IOM in assisting in projects-related to demobilization and property restitution.
The SRSG then met the Special Adviser to the PM of Japan, Yuki Okamoto, who briefed the SRSG on a joint Japanese-Egyptian project to rehabilitate Iraqi hospitals and train Iraqi doctors and nurses. The SRSG welcomed this joint Egyptain-Japanese initiative and said that the health sector was one of the priority services that needed international support. They also discussed the security situation and the latest developments in the political situation.
Office of the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General