Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP), Date: 9 Mar 2003

Iraqis face food catastrophe in event of war: UN

BAGHDAD, March 9 (AFP) - Millions of Iraqis who rely on food handouts face a "catastrophic" situation in the event of war, a UN official in Baghdad warned Sunday.

Veronique Taveau, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian coordinator, said most Iraqis relying on food distributed by the government under international supervision had only a few weeks of reserves.

"You could estimate they have enough to last between four and six weeks," she told AFP, agreeing the situation could be described as "catastrophic."

Falling oil revenues, which provide the basis for Iraq's oil-for-food programme, and the slowness with which the UN sanctions committee approves food supply contracts, are both to blame, according to the UN.

The Iraqi government began on February 10 to distribute rations for June and July to some 12 million people in the centre and south of the country.

Rations in the Kurdish region of the north are distributed by the United Nations alone.

UN officials are increasingly concerned at a lack of "essential nutritional elements" such as protein-rich beans and powdered milk.

"The Iraqi population is extremely fragile and very dependent -- 60 percent of the population depends on rations," Taveau said.

Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable, she added. "Fifty percent of pregnant women are anaemic. Babies are below normal weight. And there is a high risk of increasing infant mortality."

Taveau said water quality was not the best and power cuts if there was a war would make matters worse. "There is a high risks of epidemics and the heat will increase the risk."

So "the United Nations has raised the alarm, it has waved the red flag."
Still, the humanitarian effort so far is not likely to be enough. A recent appeal for 124 million dollars has only been two-thirds met, Taveau said, with many donor nations not wanting to join what they may see as a "logic of war."