Diplomats return to Baghdad

Baghdad has seen widespread looting

British diplomats are this weekend returning to Baghdad for the first time in 12 years.

The ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Segar, and three staff aim to have the British embassy, which has remained unoccupied since the first Gulf War in 1991, up and running over the next few weeks.

The team will initially work in three large containers which will be constructed on a cricket pitch in the grounds of the embassy building - the first ever "flat-pack" British embassy.

The deserted building will have to undergo various improvements before it can be deemed structurally safe, by which time more diplomatic staff will have arrived in Baghdad to take up their posts.

However, the diplomatic mission will only receive full embassy status once an interim authority is established in Baghdad.

Mr Segar's team will work with the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, helping humanitarian operations and making contact with political figures in Iraq.

We have to be very careful about security overall because the situation in Baghdad is variable from district to district

Christopher Segar

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Segar said there were still concerns about security in Baghdad, although on a visit to the southern city of Basra two days ago he had encountered little hostility.

He said: "I think we have to be very careful about security overall because the situation in Baghdad is variable from district to district,"

"I think what is important is a high level of international recognition or acceptance of the sort of interim Iraqi administration that members of the coalition are trying to work with the Iraqis to put together."

Mr Segar was number two at the embassy before diplomatic ties were severed when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

He is intending to get in touch with the Iraqis who worked at the embassy, including the caretaker who has looked after the building and its grounds in the years following the first Gulf War.