Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement today (19 August) on the recent attacks on several government buildings in Baghdad, including the Iraqi Foreign Ministry:

“I am deeply shocked at the series of brutal bomb attacks in Baghdad through which dozens of people have lost their lives or been cruelly maimed. I condemn these callous attacks in the strongest terms. I would like to convey our condolences to the families of the victims, and to wish those injured a speedy recovery.

The objective of these attacks is clearly to undermine the process of political stabilization in Iraq and to cause the violence there to further escalate. This cannot be allowed to happen! Not violence but only dialogue and reconciliation can lead to an improvement in the situation in Iraq and usher in a peaceful future for all Iraqis.

Germany and the EU will support Iraq on its difficult path towards national reconciliation and pluralistic democracy.”

These attacks are the worst in a series of violent acts which have shaken Iraq in past weeks, some of them even occurring in the protected “Green Zone”. At least 75 people have been killed in the attacks so far.