Brasília, 4/14/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In an exclusive Radiobrás interview on Friday, Marta Maurás, the UN deputy secretary general, declared that one of the most terrible problems in Iraq at this moment is the lack of clean water. Ms Mauras said that children especially are suffering and getting sick because there is no potable water..

The UN deputy secretary general said that the main obstacle to resolving the problem of clean water was the collapse of security. "The UN is awaiting information from the occupying forces regarding security conditions," she reported.

With regard to the question of setting up a transition government in Iraq, Mauras declared that such a decision should go through the UN and its Security Council in order to be legal under international law. (AB)