WHO Experts to Visit Iraq on Depleted Uranium ImpactA delegation of the World Health Organization (WHO) will visit Iraq Monday to study the effect of exposure to the depleted uranium (DU) from ammunitions used during the 1991 Gulf War, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on Friday.The visit is expected to focus on the health impact of the DU shells used by the multinational force during the Gulf War, which was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, INA said. The WHO delegation will also study the relations between the environment and non-communicable diseases, it added. The delegation grouping eight experts, headed by WHO Deputy Regional Director Abdel Aziz Saleh, will stay in Iraq till the end of the month. Iraq has repeatedly condemned the United States and its Western allies for dropping hundreds of tons of DU bombs in its south and other parts during the Gulf War, leading to an environment disaster. It has also blamed the DU bombs for the sharp increase of cancer cases since the war. The Iraqi Heath Ministry says that cancer patients have increased from 6,555 in 1989 to 10,931 in 1997, and there are more cancer cases, especially leukemia, or blood cancer, in southern Iraq because most of the DU shells were dropped there. Iraq has demanded compensation from the U.S. and Britain for their use of DU munitions during the Gulf War. |
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