Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations Warns of Environmental Consequences of Iraqi War

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations has warned against possible grave environmental consequences of the Iraqi war.

Military action may have an adverse impact on the region's environment, Deputy Russian Minister of Emergency Situations Yuri Brazhnikov told the press on Thursday. According to him, air and drinking water pollution caused by combustion and deployment of depleted uranium might become the gravest affects of the war on Iraq.

"People have started to leave [Iraq]" with hundreds of Iraqis coming to Turkey, as well as Iran and Jordan, Brazhnikov reported with reference to figures provided by the United Nations. 600,000 people are likely to leave Iraq for Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait, the UN reports.

Food supplies are running low in Iraq, Brazhnikov added. Humanitarian aid arriving in the region under the aegis "Food for Oil" is "not enough to feed the Iraqi population," the deputy minister said.