WHO delegation in Iraq to investigate on cancer cases behind depleted Uranium

A team from the World Health Organization WHO on Tuesday started investigations on the suffering of the Iraqis from advanced cancer cases because of the depleted Uranium.

News reports said that the 6-member team which is headed by the Egyptian doctor Abdul Aziz Saleh started these investigations by holding meetings with officials at the Iraqi ministry of health and at the UN humanitarian Aids program in Iraq.

Dr. Saleh who is WHO's regional office chairman told the press in Cairo that this visit is the fruit of a meeting held in Geneva in April between an Iraqi delegation and WHO experts.

However, Iraqi official figures indicate a great increase in cancer cases as these increased from 7555 in 1989 to 10931 in 1997. Most of the reported cancer cases were in the areas exposed to the American bombardment during the Gulf war.