Red Cross fears war-aid confusion

October's Baghdad bombing suggested the ICRC was being associated with the coalition forces

The Red Cross has warned that the growing trend for military operations to be presented as humanitarian is making aid work more dangerous.

In a report, it warns that experiences following recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan show growing confusion about various organisations' roles.

The annual report said the need for independent and neutral help for war victims remained as great as ever.

ICRC officials say it has had a "difficult and painful year".

Five ICRC workers were killed last year in Afghanistan and Iraq.

'Neutral and independent'

Responding to questions about the document - the ICRC annual report for 2003 - Director of Operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations faced a double risk:

• Of being rejected locally for being associated with the West; and
• of being used by politicians who see the integration of political, military and humanitarian objectives as the way forward.

"The ICRC will be very adamant in its insistence on neutral and independent humanitarian action as being a real added value and something that is extremely relevant in today's polarised environment," he said.

RED CROSS FACTS Established: 1863 Budget: $670m Staff: 1,200 specialised, 9,000 local in the field Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Profile: Red Cross

The ICRC has faced its biggest challenge in Iraq. Its office in Baghdad was bombed in October, a sign, ICRC officials fear, that some people associate Western aid workers with coalition forces.

It has also been affected by the scandal of prisoner abuse. The ICRC knew what was going on at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, but, sticking with its policy of confidentiality, did not comment publicly.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the hasty transfer of power in Iraq has taken the Red Cross by surprise.

Mr Kraehenbuehl said it was unclear who was now in charge of prisoners there.

"This situation adds a dimension," he said.

"There are certain issues which, in terms of who detains people and under which authority they are that obviously today remain unanswered, just as security parameters for our own operation remain unanswered."

The Geneva Conventions stipulate that prisoners of war should be released when hostilities cease, and the ICRC expects this to happen in Iraq too.

Prisoners who continue to be held should be formally charged, it says.

Despite the uncertainty over their status, the ICRC says it hopes to continue visiting detainees in Iraq, but the confusion is an example of the difficulties facing the Red Cross.

The US is not applying the Geneva Conventions the way the ICRC had hoped, our correspondent says.