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The first shipment of humanitarian aid arrived in the southern port of Umm Qasr on Friday.
The Sir Galahad, a British naval supply vessel carrying 200 tons of food, medicine blankets and water, docked in the port, the only deepwater port in Iraq, at 4:28 p.m. (1328 GMT).
The shipment was delayed for one day due to mines laid by Iraqi troops before the US-led war on Iraq kicked off on March 20.
The US and British governments hoped that the opening of Umm Qasr ports would pave the way for shipping both supplies for their combat troops as well as humanitarian aid to Iraq.
By delivering the aid to the needy population in the war-torn Iraqi towns, the US-led coalition attempts to portray their invading forces as "liberators" to win the hearts of Iraqi people.
Defying international opposition, the United States and Britain launched the war in a bid to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Iraq has denounced the invaders as "criminals" and "villains," while urging the international community to stop the "aggression" unconditionally.
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2003)
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