Iraq Accuses UN of Procrastination in DU TestsIraq Sunday accused the United Nations of hindering the study of the the World Health Organization (WHO) on the sanitary impacts of Depleted Uranium (DU) on the Iraqi public health.During its meeting in Geneva last March, the WHO accepted Iraq's request for the study and decided to set up joint committees to investigate the impacts on Iraq of the DU used in the 1991 Gulf War, Health Minister Umid Medhat Mubarak was quoted as saying by the official Iraqi News Agency. The decision of the United Nations Secretariat to delay the visit by a WHO mission to Iraq to study the impacts of the DU in Iraq under the pretext of "security reasons" reflects clearly "the U.S. hegemony over the U.N., so as to promote the U.S. hostile policy against Iraq," he said. The WHO decided in late June to send a delegation to Iraq to join Iraqi experts in determining the destructive impacts of the DU on human health and environment in Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraq is carrying out a national campaign to detect any cases of early breast cancer, which is spreading quickly among Iraqi women, as well as other kinds of cancer, nerve and muscle diseases, justifiable abortion, and embryo deformities. The Iraqi minister criticized the international organization for its position adopted after the United States and Britain failed to pass a U.N. Security Council's draft resolution on "smart sanctions" on Iraq. He urged friendly nations to face up to such a hostile trend toward Iraq. |
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