Iraq Embassy security pulled out

The Philippine security detail at the Embassy of Iraq has reportedly pulled out from the premises, citing poor working conditions.

Security officers allegedly said they were not being fed well and not provided with living quarters.

The move fueled speculation that it was due to a row between the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and a top Iraqi diplomat who hit the United States’ plan to strike Baghdad and force it to disarm.

This, however, was denied by DFA officials, who said that under the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations, a host country must protect foreign diplomats in its territory.

Sources said the DFA took offense at pronouncements made the other day by Iraq Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Samir-A-Masih-Bolous in a forum hosted by students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

Bolous, who addressed the forum along with Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., said that the US wanted to wage war on Iraq because the Americans wanted to control Iraq’s oil fields.

He also belied US claims that his country secretly possessed weapons of mass destruction. Bolous insisted that sites used for manufacturing chemical and biological weapons were destroyed years ago by Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War in accordance with resolutions passed by the UN.

According to sources, Bolous statements ran counter to President Arroyo’s call on Iraq to do "what is right to avoid war."

It has "pushed the envelope of good taste" and was not the proper way for a foreign diplomat to behave as he should have aired his sentiments before the DFA and not in a public arena, sources maintained.

Mrs. Arroyo had earlier urged the United Nations to act with force against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein or lose credibility.

"He may oppose the government’s position but it should be done in the proper way. His acts are contestable. He should not misbehave in our country. It is quite offensive to local sensibilities," the sources said, adding that a foreign diplomat should not take sides on issues polarizing a country.