"There is no humanitarian crisis in southern Iraq, however the situation is far from ideal," Ingram said at a press conference in London.

He said the humanitarian problems were "a legacy of Saddam's decades of misrule."

"There is indeed a real problem with water. But for many people we have already alleviated this through the pipe line we have built to Umm Qasr (port in southern Iraq) and through its reactivation of the water treatment plant there," Ingram said.

"Water availability in Basra is currently thought to be running at about 60 percent thanks to the efforts of the Red Cross," he said.

"Once Basra is secured the restoration of water supply will become a priority," Ingram said.

He said Basra was "contained" despite continuing resistance there and that British forces around the key southern city would decide "how and when to enter the city."

Expatriate United Nations humanitarian workers reentered Iraq Friday for the first time since their withdrawal last month on the eve of the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein, officials said in Kuwait.

An 11-person team including representatives from the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN children's fund UNICEF, and the UN Office for the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNOHCI), were assessing humanitarian needs in the southern port city of Umm Qasr, the WFP's emergency coordinator for Iraq Russell Ulrey told AFP.

UN staff had carried out a security assessment in the area on Tuesday and Friday's trip was "the first visit by the humanitarian side," he said.

The final UN expatriate staff withdrew from Iraq on March 17 on the orders of Secretary General Kofi Annan on security grounds, although Iraqi staff remained.

Umm Qasr is the only entry point for direct port deliveries into Iraq, and had been handling vessels carrying in food and other vital necessities under the UN-administered oil-for-food programme before the start of the conflict on March 20.

Ulrey said Friday's one-day visit would "allow humanitarian staff members of the UN to begin to assess what's required."

SPACE.WIRE