Czech army medical personnel head for Iraq

PRAGUE (AFP) Apr 17, 2003
About 40 doctors and other personnel left the Czech Republic Thursday en route to Iraq, where they will set up a field hospital in the southern port town of Basra, Czech Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik said.

"The doctors for the mobile Czech field hospital will start working tomorrow and the next day, in makeshift conditions," Tvrdik said after the departure of a Czech army plane for Kuwait. The doctors will travel from there to Iraq.

The minister noted that the first team of doctors would arrive in Basra later Thursday.

An additional 230 medical personnel and 150 containers of equipment will be transported to Basra in the coming days, aboard Antonov planes provided by a Ukrainian company.

The Czech parliament on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the field hospital to be deployed.

The United States has pledged to support part of the mission's cost, estimated at 16 million euros (17.5 million dollars).

SPACE.WIRE