- NEAR ZUBAYR, Iraq
(Reuters) - Iraqis drink dirty water from wells. Others comb hospitals
searching for medicine. Civilians pose as soldiers and try to surrender,
hoping U.S. or British forces will feed them.
-
- A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in southern Iraq five
days into the U.S.-British invasion aimed at toppling Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein.
-
- The biggest grievance is lack of water, with supplies
cut off by a thunderous ground and air assault in the south, home to Iraq's
Shi'ite Muslims, many of whom are eager to see Saddam go.
-
- "We need water. All we can do is dig for water in
wells. It is water that even animals would not drink," said 30-year-old
Muhammad Ali, who is unemployed.
-
- The voices on the ground in this southern town, some
12 miles south of the major city of Basra, give weight to the crisis warnings
from aid agencies and the United Nations.
-
- On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for
rapid action to help the people of Basra, home to some two million people
and Iraq's second largest city, get adequate water supplies.
-
- "I think urgent measures should be taken to restore
electricity and water to that population," he said. "A city of
that size cannot afford to go without electricity or water for long. Apart
from the water aspect, you can imagine what it does for sanitation."
-
- Basra's main Wafa al-Qaed water treatment plant has been
out of action due to a power outage since Friday. And while other plants
can supply about 40 percent of usual needs, the International Committee
of the Red Cross in Geneva describes the situation as an emergency.
-
- Near Zubayr, some civilians can be seen walking to the
checkpoints set up by the invading forces. The civilians pretend to be
Iraqi soldiers who want to surrender, a move to secure U.S. military "meals-ready-to
eat" and bottles of mineral water.
-
- But they are turned away after failing to present proper
identification.
-
- "I would like to surrender," said one man,
who was quickly rejected by a British soldier.
-
- U.S. and British troops expect humanitarian aid shipments
to arrive in the next few days. But Iraqis appear unaware of this.
-
- It also depends on the invading forces' ability to secure
the area and make it safe for aid workers. The U.S. and British troops
are moving through the south more slowly than expected, raising the prospect
of prolonged hardship for Iraqi civilians.
-
- "We can't drive because petrol is running out. There
is no gas. What can we do," asked Abdullah, who was riding a bicycle
through a British checkpoint protected by tanks past The Southern Gas Company.
-
- In Moscow, a Kremlin spokesman said President Vladimir
Putin had told President Bush by telephone that Iraq faced the risk of
a humanitarian crisis.
-
- People there have already been weakened by two previous
wars in two decades and years of international sanctions.
-
- According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
one in four children in Iraq already suffers from malnutrition.
-
- Concerns about basic needs are mixed with fear as militias
loyal to Saddam resist the invading troops and spread panic among the civilian
population, said several people interviewed.
-
- At another checkpoint, Iraqis with blankets and pots
piled in the back of pick-up trucks streamed out of the town of al-Zubayr.
They said armed members of the ruling Baath party were intimidating the
civilians in the town which was why many were leaving.
-
- "They took my three sons and executed them this
morning behind the hospital in al-Zubayr," said Adil Sughayar, waving
his hands in the air.
-
- The Baath Party is not the only object of rage. Frustrated
Iraqis wander to checkpoints looking for relatives they said had been arrested
by the U.S. or British forces.
-
- "We go and we try to find water because it has been
cut off in our area and then the Americans and British arrest people who
are not even soldiers," said Mohsen Ibrahim.
-
- "They've arrested my brother. Where can I find him?,"
he asked a British soldier.
-
- When Iraqis are not worrying about food and water supplies,
they dread what could happen if Saddam survives the U.S. and British military
firepower.
-
- The southern port city of Umm Qasr has been pounded by
shells for days. But according to at least some citizens it is the Baath
Party members who have paralyzed the town with fear.
-
- "The Americans think there are Republican Guards
in the city. It's only ten men with old rifles who are resisting,"
said Ali Muhammed, an army deserter.
-
- "Everyone else wants the Americans to free Umm Qasr.
We would like to kill the 10 men but we are afraid that if the Americans
don't win Saddam will slit our throats."
|
