Fine Gael has urged the Government to take a lead in demanding a review of UN sanctions against Iraq which have been blamed by UNICEF for causing the deaths of more than 500,000 children.
The party's spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, said the Government should raise the issue at EU and UN levels "with a view to having the rationale for a continuation of the sanctions examined. "The Government should, in the interim, also provide additional humanitarian relief and, in particular, further medical support and supplies for the people of Iraq."
Speaking ahead of the tenth anniversary this Sunday of the imposition of sanctions, Mr O'Keeffe said they had resulted in "enormous hardship, death and deprivation for the Iraqi people".
A demonstration marking the anniversary, organised by the No To War Campaign, will take place at the US embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, at 6.30 p.m. today.