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DATE=10/17/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ/UNICEF (S/L)
NUMBER=2-255155
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  A senior U-N official has criticized continued 
high infant-mortality rates in Iraq, but says 
international sanctions imposed after the Gulf War are 
not solely responsible for them.  The head of the U-N 
Children's Fund, UNICEF, made the remarks at the 
conclusion of a visit to Iraq, as we hear from 
Correspondent Scott Bobb in our Middle East Bureau in 
Cairo.
TEXT:  UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy told reporters 
child-mortality rates which have more than doubled 
after nearly a decade of sanctions against Iraq remain 
high.  But she said U-N sanctions are not solely 
responsible for the increase. 
She noted much of the suffering of the Iraqi people is 
the result of two wars in which Iraq was involved 
since 1980, and the decline of government investment 
in public health.  But she said the impact on children 
should also be taken into account when the 
international community considers levying sanctions 
against a country.
Ms. Bellamy spent the past week visiting hospitals, 
schools and health centers in Iraq.
            /// REST OPT ///
She said malnutrition rates have improved in the 
largely autonomous north, but continue to cause 
concern in southern and central Iraq.  She urged the 
Iraqi government to remove infant feeding formula from 
its basket of monthly rations, saying it has led to a 
decline in breast-feeding.
Ms. Bellamy's visit follows a UNICEF report, issued 
last August, on health conditions among Iraqi children 
after nearly 10-years of sanctions.  The Iraqi 
government has praised the report, saying it supports 
its call for the unconditional lifting of the 
sanctions.  
The U-N Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq has said 
imports in the humanitarian area should not be 
restricted.
The U-N Security Council has been debating proposals 
that would reduce restrictions on Iraqi imports in 
exchange for the return of U-N weapons monitors.  The 
monitors withdrew from Iraq nearly one-year ago amid a 
rising confrontation over the weapons monitoring 
program.  Iraq has rejected their return.   (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/ALW/RAE
17-Oct-1999 11:48 AM EDT (17-Oct-1999 1548 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.