Canada’s charge d’affaires leaves Iraq as security situation worsens

OTTAWA – A Foreign Affairs spokesman says security concerns forced Canada’s acting charge d’affaires to leave Iraq yesterday.

John Babcock says the government will now be reassessing its diplomatic presence in Iraq on a daily basis.

Foreign Affairs earlier issued an advisory against all travel to Iraq, warning the situation there is growing increasingly dangerous and unpredictable.

Al-Qaida-inspired militants captured the key cities of Mosul and Tikrit last week and say Baghdad is their next target.

Babcock said in an email to The Canadian Press Sunday night that the security of Canadian officials abroad is a top priority.

Canada’s embassy to Iraq and Jordan is based in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Washington, meantime, has moved some U.S. embassy staff out of Baghdad, and has also deployed three war ships, including an aircraft carrier, to the Persian Gulf to protect American interests in Iraq.