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Iranian Al-Alam TV "Iraq Today" Programme on Environmental Pollution

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 18:00 CST

Iranian Al-Alam TV "Iraq Today" programme's Sunday 19 February edition discussed the environmental pollution problem in Iraq and its direct effects on Iraqi people.

The programme was presented by Muhammad al-Kadhim and the guests were Basim Sharif, member of the Iraqi National Assembly and the United Iraqi Alliance, and Amir al-Khuza'i, technical secretary at the Ministry of Health.

Al-Kadhim began the programme by giving figure of the numbers of Iraqi people affected by radio active pollution, citing numbers of children in Iraq who were born with deformities in the last few years, highlighting the use of depleted uranium by the coalition forces during the war in Iraq.

The guests discussed the causes of pollution in Iraq, whether it was the fault of the occupation forces or the fault of the previous regime. Sharif said that that the occupation forces had a case to answer but that the Saddam regime was also responsible for the pollution which was affecting many Iraqis. He said that although the uranium used was depleted, it did pose a long term health threat to the people in Iraq.

Al-Khuza'i said studies have shown that the depleted uranium levels were not proven to be a direct cause of cancers and other illnesses in Iraq. He added that most of the pollution was caused by the Saddam regime and that Saddam used the depleted uranium issue for political gain against the coalition forces in the build up to the Iraq war. Al-Khuza'i also disputed the figures given by Al- Kadhim saying that they represented people who were tested for illnesses not those who actually suffered from them.

Sharif said that the National Assembly had more pressing priorities to deal with such as water pollution, which needed dealing with before the depleted uranium issue, because water pollution affected people immediately.

The guests also discussed other issues such as increasing the awareness of the Iraqi people of the dangers of environmental pollution. Sharif pointed that universities in Iraq had schools of environmental studies, which showed a move in the right direction.

Al-Kadhim ended the programme by highlighting again the importance and dangers of the environmental pollution subject in Iraq.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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