Iraqis Suffer From Radiation Symptoms
By SABAH JERGES, Associated Press Writer
June 2, 2003

AL-MADA'IN, Iraq - Dozens of people are showing up every day at a hospital near a defunct Iraqi nuclear plant, suffering from rashes, bloody noses and other symptoms of radiation poisoning, doctors said Saturday.

The Tuwaitha nuclear facility, 12 miles south of Baghdad, was left unguarded after Iraqi troops fled the area on the eve of the war. It is thought to have contained hundreds of tons of natural uranium and nearly two tons of low-enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons

U.S. troops didn't secure the area until April 7. By then, looters from surrounding villages had stripped it of much of its contents, including uranium storage barrels they later used to hold drinking water.

People suffering from symptoms of radiation sickness started showing up at the hospital closest to the nuclear site as early as two months ago, two doctors interviewed by The Associated Press said Saturday. Their numbers have since grown considerably.

"Some 30 to 40 patients suffering from bloody diarrhea visit our hospital every day, probably due to their exposure to nuclear radiation," said Bassim Abbud, a physician at the Mada'in General Hospital, about 9 miles from the Tuwaitha nuclear facility.

The International Atomic Energy Agency sent a team to Iraq earlier this month to see if any of the uranium was missing, fearing it had been stolen in the chaos of the war. The experts found most of the uranium on or near the site, diplomats said Friday. Plastic bags containing the uranium were found on the ground where the looters emptied out the barrels and some bags apparently spilled, the diplomats said from Vienna,where the U.N. agency is based. The mission - whose scope was restricted by the U.S.-led interim administration of Iraq - was not allowed to give medical exams to Iraqis reported to have been sickened by contact with the materials, the diplomats said. U.S. military experts involved in the cleanup offered to buy back the barrels at $3 each.