World Tribune.com

Blanchard

Saddam starving Kurds in N. Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, February 4, 2002

LONDON Ñ Kurds living in the autonomous zone in northern Iraq are said to be on the verge of catastrophe as the regime of President Saddam Hussein is denying them food.

A report by the London-based Save the Children said the United Nations sanctions on Iraq has "almost totally impoverished" the population of northern Iraq. The report said Saddam is controlling food distribution around the country, including the north.

The report was released as Saddam's agents have attempted to infiltrate northern Iraq and set up a military base in the area. Saddam has demanded that the military deploy anti-aircraft batteries near the Turkish border to ward off any U.S. air attack, Middle East Newsline reported.

A large portion of the Kurds in northern Iraq, the report said, remains dependent on relief for more than 90 percent of their food needs. The report said that despite Saddam's policy of denying food to the Kurds, the UN oil-for-food program is the only means to prevent starvation in the autonomous zone. The report said most Kurds have no household assets, and therefore nothing to fall back on in the event of a decrease in their food rations, as they were forced to sell their possessions in order to survive in the early 1990s.

"The irony is that while the oil-for-food program is what is keeping these people alive, it is also what put them in this situation to begin with," Alastair Kirk, a researcher for the charity based in Northern Iraq, said. "Any change to the oil-for-food program needs to be very well-thought through, as the current situation is a disaster waiting to happen."

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