Possibilities of Rendering Humanitarian Aid to Iraqi People are Being Discussed in Geneva

In the context of the conference, which was held on the initiative of Switzerland on Wednesday, experts from thirty countries, including Russia, and representatives of specialised agencies of the United Nations and profile international organisations, discussed the possibilities of rendering a broad humanitarian aid to the Iraqi population in conditions of the armed conflict.

That same day, at a meeting with the heads of the International Red Cross Committee (IRCC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), Professor Leonid Roshal (Russia) and Chairman of the Russian Red Cross Society Tatyana Nikolayenko discussed the proposal of the Russian side on rendering aid to injured and sick children of Iraq, including their evacuation and treatment in third countries.

The discussion revealed the necessity of opening "humanitarian corridors" on Iraqi territory for rendering various types of aid and evacuating the victims of the conflict, children in the first place, and also for ensuring security of the activity of humanitarian organisations in the zone of military operations.

At the end of the conference, to which representatives of Iraq were not invited, its chairman Tony Frisch (Switzerland) avoided announcing the results of the work of the experts, including the problem of "the opening of humanitarian corridors." At a final news conference, Tony Frisch only said that the Iraqi side would be informed about the conference and that the expert consultations would be continued.

Roshal and Nikolayenko also abstained from summing up the results of their meetings in the IRCC and the WHO.

Earlier, on Wednesday, Leonid Roshal said that the Iraqi ambassador in Moscow had consented to the evacuation of injured children who can be received, for example, by Russia and France.