-Deadly waste returned to US forces

Dear friends, Midori at the ‘children of the Gulf War’ photo exhibition UK tour writing. Following two articles came from the ?eGreenpeace International?f homepage, the latest news about Tuwaitha, Iraq. I had sent you news of the contamination of the ?eyellowcake?f at Tuwaitha two months ago. If you don?f t know about that, please visit our homepage, you can find the back issue of our news mail titled ?eAl-Tuwaitha turned into a Horrific Uranium-contamination Zone?f. The people who living in that area need emergency support. Please read and spread it widely! (news mails are here.) http://www.chimerafilms.co.uk/children_nme.html Thank you, Midori — Midori Fujisawa the ‘Children of the Gulf War’ photo exhibition UK tour http://www.chimerafilms.co.uk/children.html midori@dircon.co.uk *************************************** Deadly waste returned to US forces *************************************** Tue 24 June 2003 IRAQ/Baghdad http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=285508&print =1 They claimed they were after weapons of mass destruction, but then allowed nuclear material to be carried off by the barrel. They said errant nuclear waste poses no health threat to the people in Iraq, but then denied access to experts. We delivered a dose of reality to the occupying forces: villages surrounding the Tuwaitha nuclear complex, just south of Baghdad, are contaminated with deadly radiation. Clean up must begin now. A convoy of vehicles bearing Greenpeace banners that read “Al Tuwaitha – nuclear disaster – Act now!” with a single activist walking at its head, carrying a white flag, returned a large uranium “yellow cake” mixing canister to the US military guards stationed at the heart of the nuclear plant. The canister – the size of a small car – contained significant quantities of radioactive “yellowcake” and had been dumped on a busy section of open ground near the Tuwaitha plant. Despite the military being aware of its presence, locals say it has been left open and unattended for more than 20 days. “If this had happened in the UK, the US or any other country, the villages around Tuwaitha would be swarming with radiation experts and decontamination teams. It would have been branded a nuclear disaster site and the people given immediate medical check-ups. The people of Iraq deserve no less from the international community. That they are being ignored is a scandal that must be rectified without delay,” said Mike Townsley of Greenpeace International. [To read more] http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=285508&print =1 ************************ Radioactive barrel swap ************************ Sat 28 June 2003 IRAQ/Baghdad http://www.greenpeace.org/news/details?item_id=288792 For many local people, the need for water storage overrides the unseen threat of radioactivity. We took clean water containers into the communities around the Tuwaitha nuclear facility near Baghdad and encouraged people to swap them for their radioactive ones, contaminated with uranium “yellowcake”. Despite a US$3 a barrel offer from the US Army, many in the community have retained the contaminated containers. Of the 500 barrels looted from the nuclear site since the war, about 150 are still unaccounted for. A new barrel costs US$15. The affected people are not organised criminals but the poorest of the poor, living in chronic poverty after years of neglect and abuse at the hands of Saddam’s regime and a decade of crippling sanctions. We hope that by offering new barrels specifically designed for water storage that we can return the last of the contaminated barrels to the US military for safe-keeping inside the Tuwaitha site. [To read more] http://www.greenpeace.org/news/details?item_id=288792 (Greenpeace International homepage) http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/