British MPs See War Devastation in Southern Iraq
BAGHDAD, Nov 14 (AFP) - A delegation of British members of parliament led by Labour's maverick George Galloway, a
frequent traveller to Baghdad, visited Iraq's southern capital Basra on Wednesday, the official INA news agency said.
They saw "major destruction suffered during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) and the Gulf War (1991)," the agency said.
"We came to Iraq for peace and we are working to restore relations between Britain and Iraq," INA quoted Galloway as
saying.
Basra governor Ahmed Hamash spoke of the plight of Iraqi children "suffering different forms of cancer and post-natal
malformation after being exposed to big doses of radiation caused by depleted uranium (DU) shells," fired by the US-led
coalition.
Iraq says the United States and Britain fired more than 940,000 DU shells during the January-February war which saw Iraq
forced out of Kuwait.
Galloway, who arrived in Iraq on Monday, took part in a conference in Baghdad alongside other foreigners including
Russia's ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovski to review efforts to have the 11-year international embargo lifted.