Iraqi Children Malnourished

Serious malnutrition threatens the lives of thousands of children in Iraq, a relief agency officer said Monday.

Robert Yallop, regional director for Australia’s CARE International, said his agency would provide milk, cheese and high energy biscuits to nearly 4,500 malnourished children each day for the coming six months.

Yallop, who returned from a weeklong visit to Iraq last week, said “the humanitarian situation has been deteriorating steadily over the past five years” because of crippling sanctions.

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The Security Council has offered to permit Iraq to sell oil under U.N. supervision to buy food, medicine and other necessities. But Iraq has refused, saying U.N. supervision is an imposition on its sovereignty.