Officials in Basra send request for Czech humanitarian aid

Officials in the emerging local government in Basra, Iraq, have sent a letter to Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, asking the Czech Republic for humanitarian aid. Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik confirmed the request for help on Friday, meant to aid some of the 4 million people in and around Basra in southern Iraq. The Czech government is currently counting on sending the Czech Republic's 7th field hospital to the region, although parliament has yet to approve the mission. The military has already ordered transportation for hospital personnel, including doctors and engineers and protective combat troops, to take place April 18th. In a telephone interview on Friday the Czech ambassador in Kuwait, Jana Hybaskova, indicated it was clear the field hospital unit would be set-up in Basra, while a local Iraqi stressed on Friday that what the region needed most now was drinking water and medicine.