TURKEY: UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) PREPARES TO SEND ITS FIRST MAJOR SHIPMENT OF AID INTO NOTHERN IRAQ
Record ID:
645119
TURKEY: UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) PREPARES TO SEND ITS FIRST MAJOR SHIPMENT OF AID INTO NOTHERN IRAQ
- Title: TURKEY: UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) PREPARES TO SEND ITS FIRST MAJOR SHIPMENT OF AID INTO NOTHERN IRAQ
- Date: 4th April 2003
- Summary: (W5) SILOPI, TURKEY 04/04/2003 (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF TRUCK DRIVERS WAITING BY PARKED TRUCKS LOADED WITH WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AID (4 SHOTS) 0.19 2. LAS: MORE TRUCKS ARRIVING AND JOINING PARKED CONVOY 0.27 3. PAN: UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) VEHICLE 0.34 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SPOKESWOMAN HEATHER HILL SAYING "These trucks are carrying one thousand metric tonnes of wheat flour to Dohuk and it's our first major shipment of humanitarian aid into northern Iraq. It's going to be followed by another consignment of two thousand metric tonnes for Erbil and then three thousand metric tonnes for Suleymaniah. And what we want to do is establish the procedure so we can just continue to pump food into the northern part of the country." 1.01 5. VARIOUS DRIVERS FIXING TRUCKS AND LOADING OIL (5 SHOTS) 1.38 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TRUCK DRIVER ILHAN POLAT SAYING "Of course we are afraid. There is, for sure, fear. But on the other hand, people on the other side need this." 1.45 7. SV/SCU: DRIVERS GETTING INTO TRUCKS (2 SHOTS) 2.05 8. VARIOUS: TRUCKS DRIVING THROUGH TOWN AND CHECKPOINT (7 SHOTS) 2.54 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th April 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SILOPI, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVA587DTLZO33RTKJ6YZX400JZJ7
- Story Text: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was set
to send its first major shipment of aid into northern Iraq,
establishing a vital humanitarian corridor as food supplies
dwindle in the conflict-hit region.
Some 20 trucks carrying 475 tonnes of wheatflour
gathered in the dusty south-eastern Turkish town of Silopi on
Friday (April 4) before moving in convoy to the Habur border
gate with Iraq. The drivers were awaiting permission there to
cross the mountainous Iraqi border.
The United States (U.S.)-led war against Iraq has
disrupted the supply of food in the country and people in
northern Iraq have a few weeks of food supplies left.
Turkey closed the border to regular trade and traffic
more than a month ago but is allowing humanitarian aid convoys
over, as well as shipments of unarmed U.S. jeeps.
Another convoy, bringing the consignment up to 1,000
tonnes, was set to enter the Kurdish-controlled area by the
weekend. The total shipment is enough to feed 70,000 people
for one month.
"These trucks are carrying 1000 metric tonnes of wheat
flour to Dohuk and its our first major shipment of
humanitarian aid into northern Iraq. It's going to be followed
by another consignment of 2000 metric tonnes for Erbil and
then 3000 metric tonnes for Suleymaniah. And what we want to
do is establish the procedure so we can just continue to pump
food into the northern part of the country", World Food
Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Heather Hill told Reuters as
trucks arrived from a warehouse in the south-eastern city of
Gaziantep.
With government and customs clearances already secured,
the trucks were likely to cross into Iraq later in the day and
head to a warehouse in Dohuk some 70 km (40 miles) from
Silopi.
WFP, the world's biggest food agency, plans to support a
food distribution system to meet the needs of the whole Iraqi
population. Sixty percent of its 26 million people depended
directly on the U.N.-backed oil-for-food programme, which
allowed proceeds from Iraq's oil sales to be used to buy food.
It's estimated people in northern Iraq have some four
weeks of food left, but prices in supermarkets in Dohuk have
risen around 20 percent since the war started, indicating
worsening economic conditions.
The Habur crossing has been crucial to northern Iraq
trade since the 1991 Gulf War, after which two Kurdish groups
wrested control of the region from Baghdad. Truckers took food
supplies into Iraq and brought back diesel into southeast
Turkey.
"Of course we are afraid. There is, for sure, fear. But,
on the other hand, people on the other side need this," said
truck driver Ilhan Polat.
The WFP sent three trucks carrying nearly 80 tonnes of
powdered skimmed milk for malnourished children across the
border into Iraq last weekend in a trial run.
In subsequent aid shipments to cities in northern Iraq,
the agency plans to send 2,000 tonnes of wheatflour to Arbil
and 3,000 tonnes to Sulaimaniyah. The WFP will focus on
wheatflour supplies but also plans to send consignments of
other food commodities such as vegetable oil, sugar and
pulses.
Separately, Turkey agreed this week to allow the United
States to send non-lethal supplies through its territory to
the U.S. military force based in northern Iraq which is
fighting alongside Iraqi Kurdish forces.
Last month, Turkey's parliament refused to allow U.S.
troops to launch an attack on Iraq from Turkish soil, forcing
the United States to airlift a smaller force into northern
Iraq.
Turkey has several thousand troops and heavy armour along
the Iraqi border near Habur, ready to set up a buffer zone in
Iraq in response to any flow of refugees towards the border.
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