Iraq clears visit by Ohio official
By Scott Montgomery

Washington
<LU_ANNOTATE>
The Iraqi government has agreed to let U.S. Rep.
Tony Hall visit the country next week to assess a humanitarian
crisis that has festered since the Gulf War of 1990, Hall's office
said Monday.

   The Dayton Democrat, who has traveled to other crisis points
including Sierra Leone and North Korea, will spend three days
visiting hospitals and other facilities to seek understanding why
aid has been ineffective in stemming malnourishment and other
medical problems.

   Iraq has been under economic sanctions since the war ended,
which some say have thwarted the country's ability to recover from
the devastation of the bombing campaign.

   The Persian Gulf War destroyed much of the country's medical
infrastructure, according to a report by the World Health
Organization. In 1996 the WHO found that much of the population
existed in a state of ``semi starvation.''

   Hall will be only the second member of Congress to travel in
Iraq since the war, according to Hall's office. The last visitor
was then-U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who went to help
a pair of U.S. oilmen in diplomatic trouble.
</LU_ANNOTATE WC = 181>
   Hall flies to Amman, Jordan, on Friday, where he'll spend the
night before driving to Iraq. Flights are not permitted into Iraq.
Hall is to return to Washington on April 22.

   Story Filed By Cox Newspapers
