Iraqi water treatment

Iraq will need millions of dollars in aid to repair water treatment plants run down by seven years of stringent economic sanctions to avert a public health crisis, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said yesterday.

"If the ICRC and other non-governmental organizations do not rebuild these plants, this could be a health risk," Frank Berelsbeck, a spokesman for the Baghdad office the ICRC, told reporters. "We do not have accurate statistics, but water pollution is a problem in Iraq and it has already had an effect on the population," he added, Al-Jumhoria daily reported.