Extra £30m in aid announced by Short

An extra £30m in emergency aid for Iraq was released last night by the British Government to help to meet urgent humanitarian needs in the country. Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, said the money would go to the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, the only aid agencies currently in Iraq.

Ms Short, speaking on BBC World Service radio, said the funds were in addition to the aid already pledged. The £30m brings to £50m the total committed by the Department for International Development to UN agencies, NGOs and the Red Cross movement in Iraq. The money has come from its contingency reserve of £70m.

Ms Short made clear on Monday that she wanted extra cash to come from the Treasury. She is engaged in negotiations to fund an expected UN cross-agency "flash appeal" for £1.2bn for Iraq this week.

Of the new commitment, £15m will go to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and £15m to the Red Crescent. The ICRC has already begun emergency medical support and repairs to water and sanitation systems in urban centres, particularly Baghdad and Basra. It is also working to distribute assistance to displaced people in northern Iraq.

Labour's national executive committee has warned Tony Blair of the consequences of the war on Iraq and underlined the need for an urgent humanitarian effort. In a statement after its meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday, the committee said it "deeply regrets the failure of the diplomatic path to peace".