Iraq needs support for lifting sanctions says NGO leader

Iraq needs the support of Malaysia and other Asian and Third World nations for the lifting of UN economic sanctions, Malaysian news agency BERNAMA reported, quoting an Iraq-based Youth official said Thursday.

The victims of these sanctions were mainly women and children, the elderly and the sick who lacked food and medicine, Vice President of the Baghdad-based Non-Aligned Student and Youth Organization Wissan Suleiman said.

Even though the UN had relaxed the restrictions to enable Iraq to sell oil for food and medicine, these two items were still insufficient, he told Bernama.

He also said the UN pledge to further lift the sanctions to enable Iraq to buy food and medicine were mere publicity stunts and had not been fully kept.

"The effects of these sanctions on the Iraqi people had been worse than reported. Always the food and medical supplies arrived too late to save the children, the old and the sick," Wissan said.

Wissan, who is from Lebanon, was on a four-day visit to Malaysia to meet leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and invite them to the International Meeting for Solidarity and Peace to be organized by the organization from Dec 5 to 7.

He said his organization (Nasyo) was founded in 1993 with the aim of bringing together youth and student bodies under one umbrella.

Wissan said student and youth bodies from 91 countries were now members of Nasyo, MAP reported.