Mine disposal delays first shipment of vital supplies

The first substantial delivery of aid to southern Iraq was delayed for at least 24 hours yesterday after more mines were discovered on the approaches to the port city of Umm Qasr. Seven were found and destroyed but they further held up the arrival of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Sir Galahad, waiting offshore with 231 tons of food, medicine, blankets and water.

Air Marshal Brian Burridge, leader of the UK forces in Iraq, said the discovery illustrated Saddam Hussein's "disregard" for the welfare of his own people. Naval bomb disposal experts said they hoped to finish today.

Two Iraqi civilian vessels, searched for bombs by Allied naval forces, were allowed to leave Umm Qasr yesterday but broke down, causing a potential hazard in the narrow approaches to the port.

Despite the symbolic significance of the Sir Galahad in the Allies' attempt to win over ordinary Iraqis, the load it carries falls well short of the 3,500 tons of aid brought in every day through Umm Qasr for the 27 million Iraqis before the start of the war. The World Food Programme (WFP) staff says five weeks of stockpiled food is left, although those fleeing their homes could pose particular problems for the aid agencies.

At a joint press conference at Camp David yesterday, Tony Blair and George Bush called for an immediate resumption of the UN oil-for-food programme to help speed distribution of food and medical supplies. About 13 million people, 60 per cent of the 24 million population, were fed through the programme, halted at the onset of war.

The WFP, which is poised to launch a $1.3bn appeal, has about 30,000 tons of food stockpiled in countries surrounding Iraq. But the tense security situation is hampering efforts, with the onset of guerrilla fighting jeopardising the safe delivery of aid. Some agencies have warned they might not be able to operate within the country for two weeks.Robin Lodge, a WFP spokesman, said: "We simply don't know but we're talking about days, particularly in the north. In the south, it's very difficult."

The first trickle of aid since the start of hostilities arrived overland by truck yesterday, but aid agencies said food distribution had been chaotic. The Red Crescent said its first attempt to deliver five lorries of food to the border town of Safwan had been a "disaster" after it was hijacked by young and healthy Iraqis.

Dr Hilal al-Sayer, the vice-chairman of Red Crescent, told the BBC: "That aid didn't get to the farms where the women and children are, our people lost control and young Iraqi men began emptying the trucks." Only two of five lorries reached the farms after delays of days because of the unrest.

The worst of the humanitarian problems are in the southern city of Basra where half of its 1.5 million population remains without water. Iraqi officials have sent 20 truckloads of flour from Baghdad.

British troops began handing out humanitarian relief yesterday in villages near Basra. The arrival of the Army's supplies drop caused chaos, with dozens of desperate Iraqis throwing themselves forward to receive food they had been promised for two days.

In Baghdad, 4,000 people have left for the northern town of Karakosh, staff in the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development said. Roughly the same number fled there yesterday from the northern town of Mosul. Médecins sans Frontières said its two trucks full of emergency medical supplies that left Jordan early on Wednesday had yet to reach Baghdad. Islamic Relief said its markets were empty of food and water. The World Health Organisation said the continuing bombardment was beginning to have a serious impact on the "mental and physical" well-being of the people.