IRAQ: The Labour TD, Mr Michael D. Higgins, said yesterday that he had come to Iraq to see for himself the effect of UN sanctions.
"I was here two years ago to look at this issue and have come to update our information," he told The Irish Times.
Mr Higgins is accompanied by Senator Michael Kitt and Mr Pádraig Allen of the secretariat of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr Higgins said that since Ireland had until the beginning of the year held temporary membership of the Security Council, "we should make use of the small influence we still have to seek a peaceful diplomatic solution.
"We would like to suggest to the Iraqis that every effort should be made to comply" with Security Council resolution 1441 which lays out the terms of the disarmament process. He said that pride should not get in the way of compliance. "But compliance should also be binding on the other side," he asserted, adding that progress should also be reached on the lifting of sanctions.
Mr Higgins pointed out that 40 per cent of the Iraqi population was at risk from contaminated water. "Infant mortality is 13 per cent. It has trebled since 1990.
"It flies in the face of God to think about unleashing a war after 12 years of sanctions and half the people are on rations. We must reject the suggestion that war is inevitable. There is not a single international legal opinion that justifies a strike against Iraq."
Accompanying the delegation are Mr Dominic MacSorley, operations director of Concern Worldwide, Mr Ray Jordan, emergency co-ordinator of GOAL, and Mr David Hergan of Petrez Reources.
They are due to meet Mr Tareq Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister, other senior officials and UNICEF, UNDP and non-government organisations operating in Iraq.
