Attacks force aid group from Iraq
(CNN) -- The international relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres is stopping its activities in Iraq because of "escalating violence" in the country that is endangering its staff and other aid workers.
MSF -- or Doctors Without Borders -- has been has had a presence in Iraq since December 2002. During the subsequent warfare, the group said, the "warring parties have repeatedly shown their disrespect for independent humanitarian assistance."
The move by the organization comes amid daily attacks and kidnappings by insurgents. The head of CARE International's Baghdad office, Margaret Hassan, was seized two weeks ago.
"It has become impossible for MSF as an organization to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi," Gorik Ooms, the group's general director, said in a statement.
The statement said the move was made "with a great degree of regret and sadness" because of the country's health needs.
"We deeply regret the fact that we will no longer be able to provide much needed medical help to the Iraqi people," Ooms said.
Marc Joolen, the group's operating coordinator for Iraq who is based in Brussels, cited problems with all sectors in Iraq.
In an interview with CNN, he said some groups "are incapable of respecting humanitarian assistance when it is most needed" and humanitarian groups are incorrectly regarded by some as collaborators with occupying forces.
He cited problems with coalition forces, saying that "on several occasions" medical access was denied for citizens who needed care.
Joolen said that in April in Falluja, when the hospital had been occupied by coalition forces, wounded people could not get into hospitals. Similar incidents occurred in other cities, he said.
The group said that during the bombing of Baghdad, "a small team of international aid workers stayed in the city to assist in the hospitals.
After that, MSF established three clinics in Baghdad's Sadr City and began supporting a referral hospital. It recently added an ambulance service in Sadr City.
The group said its clinics "have provided around 100,000 medical consultations since January" and assisted health workers in Najaf, Karbala and Falluja.
The group said it "recently became involved in caring for displaced people from Falluja."
In July, MSF pulled out of Afghanistan after 24 years because of security concerns and frustrations with the U.S. military. (Full story)
It blamed the Afghan government for failing to catch and prosecute attackers who killed five MSF workers earlier this year.
The group also blamed the Taliban, who have specifically threatened its aid workers, and the U.S.-backed coalition, which MSF said had "blurred" the image of aid workers as the coalition attempted to "win hearts and minds."
