English

Hello 

Create Profile

Creating your profile will enable you to submit photos and stories to get published on News24.


Please provide a username for your profile page:

This username must be unique, cannot be edited and will be used in the URL to your profile page across the entire 24.com network.

Settings

Location Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location. If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to take affect.









Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.

 
 

Locals ill after nuclear looting

2003-06-07 14:48
line

Tuwaitha, Iraq - UN nuclear experts began inspecting Iraq's largest nuclear facility on Saturday amid fears that thousands of local residents may have been poisoned as a result of looting at the site.

The Tuwaitha plant outside Baghdad was ransacked in the aftermath of the war and there are fears that local farms as well as the water supply may have been contaminated in the post-war chaos.

It is the first time UN monitors, who returned to Iraq on Friday, have been inside the country since they pulled out nearly three months ago in the run-up to the war that brought down Saddam Hussein.

The seven scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are not arms inspectors and will not be hunting for Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the pretext for the US-led war launched on March 20.

Instead they will carry out a limited two-week mission to inspect the looting at the site, which was last inventoried by UN teams in December, to see what kinds of materials may have been spilled or stolen.

Contaminated barrels sold to unsuspecting locals

Residents told AFP the looters emptied barrels from the facility and then resold them to unsuspecting locals who had been kept in the dark about Saddam's nuclear programme.

They said the barrels were used to store water and food and were also washed in the nearby Tigris river, setting the stage for a massive health crisis.

Entire villages and towns may have been poisoned and locals said that, after being alerted by the presence of international media in recent weeks, they now fear the worst.

"The water tastes funny, like chemicals, and it smells very strange," said 43-year-old Kudair Ahmed, a local fruit merchant. "I have nine children. They have all drunk the water and they all got sick."

US downplays fears

The United States was opposed to the return of the IAEA, which previously monitored Saddam's nuclear programme, after it went to war without the support of the UN Security Council, and is keeping the inspectors on a tight rein.

US officers pushed reporters back from the site after the experts arrived in a convoy of military vehicles under strict security.

The US-led coalition has come under heavy criticism for not doing more to stop the looting but a spokesman in Baghdad told reporters that there was minimal risk from the Tuwaitha plant.

"Our initial assessment is that the risk for health effects is not large," the military spokesman said. "We have had folks there at the site, my deputy went there and his teeth are still there, and his hair is still in."

Tuwaitha housed tonnes of uranium as well as a by-product known as yellowcake, which was believed to have been dumped at the site in the orgy of looting that followed the downfall of Saddam's regime on April 9.

The spokesman said the yellowcake previously inventoried was believed still to be at the site but anxious residents told AFP they feared their families and children might have been exposed to other contamination.

"We don't buy milk, cheese or yoghurt from around here anymore. Even the vegetables are dangerous," said 25-year-old Ahmad Hussein, who is married with two young sons. "We go to Baghdad to buy our groceries."

In particular, adults have also not been always able to convince their young children, sweltering in the heat of an Iraqi summer, not to cool themselves in the waters of the Tigris.

"My parents and teachers told me this is a dangerous area but I don't care," said 12-year-old Mohammad Abdul Wanass, surrounded by friends who all said they regularly went for a dip in the river.

"We're not afraid of pollution or disease. If we can't swim in this river, they should give us another one."

Coalition forces have been repurchasing the barrels from residents and the spokesman said that they were doing everything they could to alert locals to the danger.

"We are trying to ... make sure that people are aware of the hazards and that, if they have something, that they turn it in," he said.

But many here said they were still unaware of the dangers two months after the US-led coalition brought down Saddam's regime.

One man shopping at Tuwaitha market on Saturday morning told AFP: "I haven't heard anything about it." He bought a bag of apples and walked away. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA

Read News24’s Comments Policy

inside news24

 

140
1
1 of 10
 
Traffic
Lottery
 
  • Wednesday Ladysmith - 22:09 PM
    Road name: N11 Both Ways
    ROADWORK - two sets of stop / go controls just south of the R68 Dundee exit - expect waiting times of up to 20 minutes between Ladysmith and Newcastle (ends March 2013)
  • Saturday Pretoria - 08:07 AM
    Road name: N1 Both Ways
    ROADWORKS - lane closures on both carriageways for long term roadworks between the N4 Witbank Highway Interchange and the Zambesi Drive exit - EXPECT DELAYS (until Jan 2013)
 
More traffic reports...
 

Jobs [change area]

Debtors controler

Durbanville, South Africa
Exceed HR
R15000 - R20000

Strucutral Engineer

CPT - CBD
Communicate Cape Town Engineering
Market Related

INSTRUCTOR PILOT

United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates Air Force & Air Defense
Market Related

Cars[change area]

FORD

Bantam 1.3i XLT PU MY06
2009
R 122,892.00

PEUGEOT

206 1.4 X LINE
2005
R 89,995.00

VOLKSWAGEN

CitiGolf 1.4i 5-dr MY04
2007
R 72,995.00

Property [change area]

Vulintaba Country Estate, Upper Drakensberg

A lifestyle estate beyond compare. Home Package Options From R990 000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Casa Rex, Vilanculos

Spend 5 nights in at the magical Mozambican resort of Casa Rex from R7983 per person sharing. Includes accommodation, return flights, taxes and transfers. Book now!

Kalahari.com - shop online today

Legos

Let your child construct his own fun with only his imagination limiting his creations. Buy now.

iPad

Update the way you socialize, work and play with the latest iPad models. Buy now.

Max Payne 3

Seeking Redemption from the past, Max hopes to enter his last fight and finally put his demons to rest. Buy now.

Sins of the Father

Foul play in New York City sets the tone. Boundaries pushed, Loyalties tested and secrets unravelled in Jeffrey Archer’s, Sins of the Father. Buy now.

Nikon Camera Range

Capture and preserve your life’s precious memories with the Nikon Camera Range. Buy now.

OLX Free Classifieds [change area]

pool table

For Sale, Toys - Games - Hobbies in South Africa, Gauteng, Johannesburg. Date May 6

Lexus: IS

Vehicles, Cars in South Africa, Gauteng, Johannesburg. Date May 7

stylish bachelor furnished in sandton from 1st of june

Real Estate, Houses - Apartments for Rent in South Africa, Gauteng, Johannesburg. Date May 7

Gobii eReader

Only R899.95

Affordable, compact & elegant there has never been a better time to start your ebook adventure than with the Gobii.

Visit www.kalahari.com for millions of books, music, DVDs, games & more!

Apple iPad 2 White 16GB 9.7" Tablet With WiFi & 3G

Two cameras for FaceTime and HD video recording. The dual-core...

From R4999.00

I'm shopping for:

Horoscopes
Aquarius
Aquarius

You are impatient to get things done and should go flat out to accomplish your goals for today. Sadly though, your co-workers do...read more

There are new stories on the homepage. Click here to see them.