Damascus, Aug 01: India is sending an "advance" team to iraq in the middle of this month to set a hospital in Najaf in the "shortest possible time" with the government in principle agreeing to dispatch at least 75 army medical personnel for the purpose. This decision comes just ahead of the three-day visit of external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha to Syria, beginning today, to bolster bilateral relations with this key middle eastern country.
> "The advance team will be in Iraq to work out the logistics for setting up the hospital along with Jordanian assistance. We expect the hospital to be functional in early September," a senior Indian official told newspersons today.

India has already pledged Rs 20 crore for the first six months of the running of the hospital and a similar amount is expected to be sanctioned for another six months till health authorities in Iraq are in a position to take over its functioning. The ground work for the establishment of the hospital, which would have facilities for providing treatment to women and children, was laid by secretary in the external affairs ministry R M Abyankar who had visited Iraq shortly after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in April.

Bureau Report