January 18, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1423

TEHRAN: Iran is setting up 19 camps along its border with Iraq to shelter refugees in the event of a military strike on its western neighbour, a senior government official was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Iran opposes any US attack on Iraq and is watching with great unease the situation across its border while repeatedly calling on Iraq to comply with United Nations’ resolutions on disarmament.

“All the camps have been selected to be set up between 500 metres to 10 kms from the border strip,” the Asia newspaper quoted Deputy Interior Minister, Ahmad Hosseini, as saying. The Interior Ministry has called on relief organisations to provide emergency aid for a possible 800,000 refugees, Hosseini said. The camps will be distributed along five Iranian provinces bordering Iraq, he said. Two of them will be located in Iran’s Kurdistan province.—Reuters