US diplomats must serve in Iraq
The US embassy in Baghdad is in the capital's heavily fortified green zone
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Saturday, 27, Oct 2007 11:05
The US state department has said that it could dismiss staff who refused to serve at the country's Baghdad embassy in Iraq.
It said that 250 "prime candidates" would soon be informed that they would have to fill vacancies in the strife-torn country's diplomatic enclave. Previously diplomats had volunteered to serve in the area.
The department's human resources director Harry Thomas said: "We have all taken an oath to serve our country and so if someone decides they do not want to go, then we would then consider appropriate actions.
"We have many options, including dismissal from the foreign service," he added.
Mr Thomas stated that candidates would be offered an improved financial package to take up the posting in the heavily-guarded green zone.
The assignment is disliked by many diplomats not only because of the dangers of serving in the country but also because they cannot take their families with them.
The state department spokesman added that US diplomats had been forced to take dangerous postings in the past as well. Similar moves were taken by the US in Vietnam in 1969 when a class of new foreign service officers was sent to the country.
Staff were also given compulsory service orders before being deployed to African countries in the 1970s and 1980s.