Red Cross only partially closed in Basra-official

[Barrett808]

BASRA, Iraq, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Foreign staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross will keep operating in southern Iraq despite the closure of its Baghdad and Basra offices, the head of the Basra delegation said on Sunday.

Alexander Liebeskind said he and some international staff would stay in the city, Iraq's second largest. Local staff will take paid leave for the rest of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.

The ICRC said in Geneva on Saturday it was temporarily shutting its offices in Baghdad and Basra because of safety concerns. A car bombing at the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad last month killed 12 people.

"The office will be closing temporarily. International delegates will continue to move in and out of Iraq visiting detainees," Liebeskind told Reuters.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09329844.htm

[paragtime]

1. red cross running

typical of the red cross in the last few years...if you're not getting enough money you run from what you believe in....BIG CHARITIES are worse than BIG BUSINESS