New Delhi, Sept 29: I ndia has decided to go ahead with plans to take over and run an existing maternity and paediatric care hospital in the Iraqi city of Najaf, notwithstanding the deteriorating situation in that country. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told this correspondent on Saturday that an advance team to run the hospital would be dispatched shortly to Najaf. "The project is very much on," the sources said.

India had agreed to take part in the "adopt a hospital" programme of the Iraqi Health Ministry. "An existing maternity and paediatric care hospital at Najaf in Iraq has been identified for this project. The project envisages around 75 doctors and support staff being deployed in Najaf," the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, informed the Rajya Sabha on July 24. "This project will be undertaken jointly with Jordan which will also be contributing some personnel. The terms and conditions, including the sharing of costs, are being worked out jointly. The contribution by India is estimated at approximately Rs. 20 crores for running the hospital for six months," he said.

The Indian decision to go ahead with the hospital project is interesting because of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq - especially attacks on the United Nations' offices in that country. A close watch is, however, being maintained on the security situation. As an advance team prepares to leave, the United Nations has announced that it plans to scale down further its presence in Iraq.

In fact, the U.N. has decided to leave its projects in the hands of Iraqi personnel. Ministry sources said the hospital project was a "bilateral matter" between India and Iraq. "We have traditional ties of friendship with the people of Iraq," they maintained.