SG: Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

Q: Sir, can you comment on the Baghdad bombing, yet another bombing in Baghdad for the UN?

SG: Obviously I am shocked and distressed by this latest attack on our premises in Baghdad. I send my sympathy and condolences to the family of the dead police and also our staff who were injured. And of course the rest have been sent home. We are assessing the situation to determine what happened, who did it, and taking further measures to protect our installations.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, could you tell us in the light of this latest bomb attack, will the United Nations be reconsidering its operations in Iraq?

SG: We are assessing the situation. There is a meeting taking place right now, reviewing the situation in light of what has happened, and we will decide as we move forward what our posture should be.

Q: Sir, it was already difficult for the UN, and you had pulled a lot of people out, and many diplomats were saying you don't really want to define a specific role, appoint or name a special representative, until the security situation becomes clearer. What will it take for the UN to really go back, from a security perspective into Iraq?

SG: I think there are two issues: obviously there are discussions about a second resolution which may affect the UN mandate and the role of the UN, and we would obviously need to know what that new role will be for us to determine how we organize ourselves to tackle that. And of course there is the security issue. We need a secure environment to be able to operate, and we have been assessing the situation on a daily basis to determine if there are improvements in the situation. We will go forward, but of course if it continues to deteriorate then our operations will be handicapped considerably.

Thank you.