U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release
April 9, 2002

STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN

Death of International Committee of the Red Cross Staff Member in Baghdad

The United States is saddened by the death of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate Vatche Arslanian in Baghdad on Tuesday and would like to express its deepest sympathies to the families of the deceased and to the larger community that makes up the Red Cross Movement. Unfortunately, Mr. Arslanian's death follows closely on the heals of the March 27 death of another ICRC delegate (Ricardo Munguia) in Afghanistan.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, as is the case in other conflict zones across the globe, the International Committee of the Red Cross is concerned by the plight of civilians. Its work, including in the areas of providing humanitarian assistance (from medical services to clean water) and protection (from visiting prisoners of war to tracing missing persons), is held in the highest regard by the U.S. Government.