UN envoy visits historic Babylon to discuss the way forward

The special representative of the UN secretary-general for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has said the establishment of a transitional governing council will be a major development for the country. He was speaking while on a day trip to the historic governorate of Babylon, south of Baghdad. "The UN has been in Iraq for many years," Vieira de Mello told the governor, Iskandar Jawad Witwit, in the town of Hillah. "In recent years it was limited to humanitarian assistance and now, during the transition, we have been focusing largely on the political process. We hope these joint efforts will bring fruition in the coming days." He said the council would have the power to appoint interim ministers until elections are held for a legitimate and internationally recognised government. And he said that while Iraq had suffered greatly in the past three decades and had been isolated from the rest of the world, he was confident it would catch up and the UN was ready to help. A leading Islamic cleric at the Religious University of Hillah, Sayyid Farqad Qazwini, told Vieira de Mello that the voice of the Iraqi people had to be heard and he called for the UN to be more effective. "Even in the jungle there are some laws - but for the last three months we have been in a jungle with no laws," he said. The UN envoy also visited a school in the town, where exams were going ahead despite the erratic power supply, and went to the main hospital. Doctors there told him that they had a shortage of beds, were unable to screen blood properly and had no contact with the Health Ministry in Baghdad. "The world is so advanced yet we are left behind," said Consultant Physician K.G. Hameed. "We have the most basic problems - the people do not have clean water, the sewage goes into the water that goes to the river and then we drink that water." Vieira de Mello spoke to the staff working in the area for the World Food Programme - which is currently conducting the largest food aid operation in history in Iraq. The Hillah office is bringing in food rations to feed five million people in five governorates every month. "We are the only operational agency here and we support all the other agencies," said Richard Snellen, WFP's area manager. "The distribution system is still in tact and working well." Vieira De Mello also met the Coalition Provisional Authority in Hillah. On the way back he went to see the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the tomb of the Biblical figure Ezekial, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews. Local officials hope that in the future this historic area will attract large numbers of tourists.