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Iraq Sends Fourth Batch of Aid to Palestinians
Iraq on Thursday sent the fourth batch of food and medicine to Jordan, where the aid will be transferred to the Palestinian territories.
The caravan of 33 trucks, carrying 1,000 tons of rice, flour, edible oil, milk powder and medicine, left the Iraqi capital Thursday morning.
Before departure, Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah said that at the order of President Saddam Hussein, Iraq sent the aid to the Palestinians in support of their intifada (uprising) against Israel.
But he admitted that the previous three shipments of aid supplies bound for Palestine have not yet reached its destinations, due to the obstruction of Israel.
Under agreements signed with the Palestinians, Israel is in charge of the border crossings between the Palestinian areas and Jordan.
The Iraqi minister has warned that Iraq would put Israel in a difficult position internationally through public media reports that food and medicine should be allowed into Palestine.
"We are still waiting for the approval of the United Nations to donate 1 billion euros (880 million U.S. dollars) to support the Palestinians," Salah said.
Iraq notified the U.N. last December of its decision to give the Palestinians the money from its oil proceeds, which have been under U.N. control due to international sanctions imposed in 1990 after its invasion of Kuwait.
Iraq has said the latest aid to the Palestinians should not be included in the projected 1 billion euros aid for them.
Iraq has dispatched more than 4,000 tons of aid supplies to the Palestinian self-rule areas via Jordan, and has sent three medical teams to Jordan to help treat the Palestinians wounded in clashes with Israeli troops.
More than 380 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed and thousands of others wounded in four months of clashes between the two sides, triggered by Israeli violation of Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem.
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