The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
62.
Ms Short
informed Parliament on 10 April that food supplies were “not
currently
a major
problem” in most of Iraq and there were not the large numbers of
internally
displaced
people that had been feared.44
63.
In the past
few days, there had been reports of an increasingly serious
humanitarian
situation
in Baghdad; the ICRC had reported “violent looting” and warned of
a
breakdown
in law and order there.
64.
Ms Short
continued that with 16m Iraqi citizens dependent on the OFF
programme
and most
families at least partially dependent on it, it was “critical” to
get the OFF
programme
and its distribution network working again as quickly as
possible.
65.
Ms Short told
the 11 April Ad Hoc Meeting that the ICRC and UN agencies
were
concerned
about lawlessness in Baghdad and elsewhere.45
Hospitals
in particular
needed to
be secured. The systems in place for the distribution of food and
the
restoration
of the water supply were disabled by the lack of
security.
66.
Mr Blair
concluded the meeting by saying that the security situation in the
cities had
to be
stabilised, particularly for hospitals. Although a violent release
of anger in response
to the fall
of the regime was inevitable, the humanitarian situation had to be
improved.
The three
basics were food, water and healthcare; DFID should provide advice
on both
the current
situation and the strategy for the future.
67.
DFID sent a
paper to No.10 later on 11 April, advising that:
•
The Iraqi
health system was functioning, but was under severe strain
in
Baghdad and
other towns that had suffered heavy casualties. There
were
localised
shortages of medical supplies.
•
Water,
sanitation and power systems were fragile. UK forces, the ICRC and
the
United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) were working together to
reinstate
services in
the South; services in Baghdad were under severe
strain.
•
Food supply
remained a concern: stocks distributed before the conflict
under
the OFF
programme were expected to last until the end of
April.
•
Population
movements had so far been limited and managed adequately
by
the local
authorities.
•
Key
concerns were the breakdown in law and order and the future
of
the
OFF programme beyond 12 May, when the authority provided
under
resolution 1472
expired.
•
In the
South, the UK military, drawing on the £30m allocated to them to
provide
humanitarian
assistance, had been distributing food, water and
medical
supplies.
Looting and disorder in Basra had been halted, and work was
under
way to
restore key elements of local public administration.
44
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 10 April
2003, column 435.
45
Minutes, 11
April 2003, Ad Hoc Meeting on Iraq.
14