DATE=4/21/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-248404
TITLE=IRAQ / CHEMICAL WEAPONS (L-O)
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  PRIVATE HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAY STUDIES SHOW KURDS IN 
NORTHERN IRAQ ARE STILL SUFFERING HEALTH PROBLEMS FROM CHEMICAL 
WEAPONS THAT WERE USED AGAINST THEM 11-YEARS AGO BY IRAQI FORCES.
AS LISA SCHLEIN REPORTS FROM GENEVA, THE NORTHERN IRAQI TOWN OF 
HALBJA WAS THE SITE OF THE LARGEST CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK 
AGAINST A CIVILIAN POPULATION IN MODERN TIMES. 

TEXT:  THE GROUPS SAY 11-YEARS AFTER THE CHEMICAL BOMBARDMENT, 
THE PEOPLE OF HALABJA CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM THE CHEMICALS.  
YET, THEY SAY, GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD DO NOTHING TO HELP 
EASE THE SUFFERING OF THE SURVIVORS.  

A PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL GENETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL, 
ENGLAND, CHRISTINE GOSDEN, CONDUCTED THE FIRST FIELD RESEARCH ON 
THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF THE 1988 POISON GAS BOMBING OF THE 
KURDS.  

DR. GOSDEN SAYS THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE STILL SUFFERING AFTER 
BEING DRENCHED WITH SOME OF THE MOST TOXIC CHEMICALS EVER 
DEVISED.   SHE SAYS THAT WHEN SHE VISITED HALABJA LAST YEAR, IT 
WAS OBVIOUS THAT PEOPLE WERE AFFLICTED WITH A WIDE RANGE OF 
SEVERE MEDICAL PROBLEMS.

                    ///  GOSDEN ACT ONE  ///

         WHAT YOU SEE ARE THINGS LIKE HEAD AND NECK CANCERS.  YOU
         SEE RESPIRATORY TRACT CANCERS BECAUSE PEOPLE BREATHE IN 
         THESE GASES AND THEY GIVE THEM LUNG CANCER OR LARYNGEO 
         CANCER.  THERE IS QUITE A LOT OF EVIDENCE OF EMBRYO 
         TOXICITY AND THE EFFECT THAT THESE ARE CARCINOGENIC AND 
         MUTAGENIC AND WILL GO DOWN GENERATIONS SO THAT YOU CAN 
         HAVE EFFECTED CHILDREN FROM PEOPLE WHO'VE BEEN EXPOSED 
         TO LARGE AMOUNTS OF THIS GAS. 

                        ///  END ACT  //

DR. GOSDEN SAYS MANY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN BORN WITH CONGENITAL 
MALFORMATIONS, INCLUDING HEART DEFECTS.  SHE SAYS THE CHEMICAL 
WEAPONS HAVE ALSO CAUSED SKIN BURNS, BLINDNESS, RESPIRATORY 
PROBLEMS, AND NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.  

SHE SAYS MOST OF THESE DISORDERS REMAIN UNTREATED BECAUSE THE 
PEOPLE OF HALABJA DO  NOT  HAVE THE MEDICINES AND EQUIPMENT THEY 
NEED.  SHE SAYS THE DOCTORS THERE KNOW HOW TO HELP THE VICTIMS.  
BUT, SHE SAYS THEY LACK THE BARE NECESSITIES. 

DR. GOSDEN APPEALS TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO HELP THE 
PEOPLE OF HALABJA.  SHE SAYS MANY LIVES COULD BE SAVED, MANY 
PEOPLE COULD BE HELPED.   (SIGNED) 

NEB/LS/JWH

21-Apr-99 10:27 AM EDT (1427 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.