The United Nations on Thursday declared Umm Qasar a "permissive" area, said Army Colonel Bob Blackledge in a video conference from the southern Iraqi port, which fell to US and British forces in the early days of the war.

The colonel, who heads the army's 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, anticipated that the move will open the way for the arrival of international and non-government relief organizations into Umm Qasar.

He said aid coming into the port so far has been from the US and Kuwaiti governments, mainly in the form of tanker trucks of potable water but also truckloads of foods donated by the Kuwaitis, he said.

However, they plan to use distribution systems set up for the UN oil-for-food program to distribute relief supplies there and in other Iraqi cities.

"Each major population center had a distribution agent as part of the oil-for-food program distribution network, and those are the systems that we are looking to use and keep in place because the people are used to going to those and they had a very good system," he said.

"So that's what were looking to get the food through," he said.

Lentils, peas, rice, cooking oil and sugar are among the food stuffs that will be distributed through the network, he said.

Free Iraqi Forces, the small force of exiles who were trained by the military, have helped get port workers back on the job at Umm Qasr, he said.

"They've really been critical in establishing trust with the local people, that we really were here to help them," said Blackledge.

SPACE.WIRE