US team leaves Iraq

The US delegation that included congressional staff members concluded its visit today to Iraq. The visit was intended to evaluate the impact of the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq for more than nine years.

On Friday the US team met for the second time with the UN coordinator for humanitarian issues in Iraq, Hans von Sponeck, and visited southern Iraq, where members of the team became acquainted with the deteriorated humanitarian, living, health and environmental conditions as a result of the sanctions.

The US delegation, which includes five congressional staff members and representatives of two institutes in Washington, arrived in Iraq on August 29 despite the objections of the US State Department to this visit.