http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6184428%255E1702,00.html


Children 'likely to die in Basra'


From correspondents in Amman, Jordan
March 25, 2003

AT least 100,000 small children in Basra are at risk of disease after water supplies were cut following US-led air strikes on the besieged southern Iraqi city, the United Nations Children's Fund has warned.

UNICEF said it was concerned over frequent power cuts and the consequent cutting of water supplies to Iraq's second largest city.

"There must now be a threat of disease as tens of thousands of people in their homes, hospitals and care institutions attempt to cope and find what water they can from the river and other sources," it said.

"Unfortunately the river is also where sewage is dumped."

It said children were most vulnerable to contaminated water.

"Not only are they suffering from high rates of malnutrition, in Basra there is the very real possibility now of child deaths, not only from the conflict, but from the additional effects of diarrhoea and dehydration."

UNICEF said it estimated that "at least 100,000 children under the age of five are at risk".

The warning was issued in Amman. Foreign aid workers were evacuated to the Jordanian capital from Iraq last week.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also said Basra "may be facing a humanitarian disaster".

Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation in Amman, said teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross had restored the water supply for about 40 per cent of Basra's population.

However, she said this only partially met the city's needs.

"The WHO is worried about the impact that the lack of access to potable and clean water will have on the health situation, which could deteriorate quickly."

British forces attacking Basra were forced to withdraw to regroup after coming under attack with mortars and by Iraqi irregular forces disguised in civilian clothes, the British military said today.


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 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/25/1048354573005.html


100,000 children at risk as water cut in Basra


March 25 2003, 9:41 AM

At least 100,000 small children in Basra are at risk of disease after water supplies were cut following US-led air strikes on the besieged southern Iraqi city, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned today

Iraqis drink dirty water from wells. Others comb hospitals searching for medicine. Civilians pose as soldiers and try to surrender, hoping US or British forces will feed them.

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in southern Iraq five days into the US-British invasion aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The biggest grievance is lack of water, with supplies cut off by a thunderous ground and air assault in the south, home to Iraq's Shi'ite Muslims, many of whom are eager to see Saddam go.

"We need water. All we can do is dig for water in wells. It is water that even animals would not drink," said 30-year-old Muhammad Ali, who is unemployed.

The voices on the ground in this southern town, some 20 km south of the major city of Basra, give weight to the crisis warnings from aid agencies and the United Nations.

Today, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for rapid action to help the people of Basra, home to some two million people and Iraq's second largest city, get adequate water supplies.

"I think urgent measures should be taken to restore electricity and water to that population," he said. "A city of that size cannot afford to go without electricity or water for long. Apart from the water aspect, you can imagine what it does for sanitation."

Basra's main Wafa al-Qaed water treatment plant has been out of action due to a power outage since Friday. And while other plants can supply about 40 per cent of usual needs, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva describes the situation as an emergency.

Near Zubayr, some civilians can be seen walking to the checkpoints set up by the invading forces. The civilians pretend to be Iraqi soldiers who want to surrender, a move to secure US military "meals-ready-to eat" and bottles of mineral water.

But they are turned away after failing to present proper identification.

"I would like to surrender," said one man, who was quickly rejected by a British soldier.

US and British troops expect humanitarian aid shipments to arrive in the next few days. But Iraqis appear unaware of this.

It also depends on the invading forces' ability to secure the area and make it safe for aid workers. The US and British troops are moving through the south more slowly than expected, raising the prospect of prolonged hardship for Iraqi civilians.

"We can't drive because petrol is running out. There is no gas. What can we do," asked Abdullah, who was riding a bicycle through a British checkpoint protected by tanks past The Southern Gas Company.

In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman said President Vladimir Putin had told US President George W Bush by telephone that Iraq faced the risk of a humanitarian crisis.

People there have already been weakened by two previous wars in two decades and years of international sanctions.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) one in four children in Iraq already suffers from malnutrition.

Concerns about basic needs are mixed with fear as militias loyal to Saddam resist the invading troops and spread panic among the civilian population, said several people interviewed.

At another checkpoint, Iraqis with blankets and pots piled in the back of pick-up trucks streamed out of the town of al-Zubayr. They said armed members of the ruling Baath party were intimidating the civilians in the town which was why many were leaving.

"They took my three sons and executed them this morning behind the hospital in al-Zubayr," said Adil Sughayar, waving his hands in the air.

The Baath Party is not the only object of rage. Frustrated Iraqis wander to checkpoints looking for relatives they said had been arrested by the US or British forces.

"We go and we try to find water because it has been cut off in our area and then the Americans and British arrest people who are not even soldiers," said Mohsen Ibrahim.

"They've arrested my brother. Where can I find him?," he asked a British soldier.

When Iraqis are not worrying about food and water supplies, they dread what could happen if Saddam survives the US and British military firepower.

The southern port city of Umm Qasr has been pounded by shells for days. But according to at least some citizens it is the Baath Party members who have paralysed the town with fear.

"The Americans think there are Republican Guards in the city. It's only ten men with old rifles who are resisting," said Ali Muhammed, an army deserter.

"Everyone else wants the Americans to free Umm Qasr. We would like to kill the 10 men but we are afraid that if the Americans don't win Saddam will slit our throats."


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 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,921386,00.html


Crisis in Basra as troops fail to create corridor for aid


Nearly 100,000 children could be at risk, warns UN agency

Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Tuesday March 25, 2003
The Guardian

The US and British governments are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis in besieged Basra, Iraq's second city, where electricity and water supplies have been severely disrupted.
The coalition forces are still encountering pockets of resistance in and around Basra, and have been unable to establish a safe corridor for aid.

Large parts of the city have been without water since Friday.

Unicef and the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that the people had resorted to drinking from the river, which is also used for sewage, which could result in disease spreading through a population vulnerable after more than a decade of UN sanctions.

Unicef warned that 100,000 children under the age of five were at risk.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, appealed for urgent measures to restore electricity and water.

"A city of that size cannot afford to go without electricity or water for long," he said.

"Apart from the water aspect, you can imagine what it does for sanitation."

The International Committee of the Red Cross said that Basra's main water treatment plant, Wafa al-Quaid, on the northern edge of the city, had been out of action for want of power since Friday, and although other plants were able to supply about 40% of the usual needs, the quality of the water was poor.

The treatment centre also supplies water to the Zubair hospital.

A Red Cross spokeswoman, Nada Doumani, said: "This is an emergency situation. We need to restore the full supply."

Adequate drinking water is vital for the local population because the daytime temperature in Basra, which has a population of 2m, can soar toward 40C, she said.

An ICRC team worked in Basra at the weekend to restore enough electricity for pumps.

With the main treatment plant out of action, the source of water has been switched from the Tigris to the Shatt-al-Arab, as the river is known below its confluence with the Euphrates.

An ICRC spokesman said the population was more vulnerable to water-based diseases because they have had years of poor food. The spokesman said there was also a risk of cholera.

The ICRC team was working yesterday to try to get some generators running to provide the remaining 60% of the population with power.

Tamara al-Rifai, the ICRC spokesperson in Kuwait, said the ICRC was waiting for guarantees of safe passage from the combatants in order to be able to repair Wafa al-Quaid.

Fighting was continuining yesterday.

US and British forces surround Basra and allow Iraqi civilians to pass in and out through checkpoints, but they do not yet have control of the city.

Huge supplies of food, clean water, blankets and medical supplies are sitting on Royal Navy and US navy ships in the Gulf.

But the commander of the Royal Marines, Brigadier Jim Dutton, said it would be days rather than hours before humanitarian aid could be unloaded.

The approach to the port has only just been declared safe for Royal Navy mine hunters to travel through. Yestererday minesweepers began checking the approach to the port for 70 mines said to have been planted by the Iraqi forces.

Brig Dutton said: "There is a delay in getting aid through Umm Qasr and anything that delays the aid's movement is bad news. The town is now reasonably secure, but my estimation is that it will still be days rather than hours before the first ship can start unloading, because of the mine threat.

"But there are other ways we are looking at to get the aid in."

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Sir Galahad, laden with food and other humanitarian supplies, is waiting to enter the port.

Brig Dutton said he was pleased with progress, but added: "It was inevitable that we would be slightly slower in some areas than we originally expected, and faster in others, which has been the case."

A Unicef spokeswoman said: "There must now be a threat of disease as tens of thousands of people in their homes, hospitals and care institutions attempt to cope and find what water they can from the river and other sources. Unfortunately, the river is also where sewage is dumped."

She added: "Not only are they suffering from high rates of malnutrition, in Basra there is the very real possibility now of child deaths not only from the conflict but from the additional effects of diarrhoea and dehydration. We estimate that at least 100,000 under the age of five are at risk."