GOAL prepares for humanitarian aftermath

Irish aid agency GOAL is preparing for the imminent US/British attack on Iraq.

The agency's emergency team is stationed in Jordan awaiting the humanitarian disaster which will inevitably follow the war.

GOAL's emergency coordinator, Ray Jordan, said: "Since President Bush's speech last night, the unfortunate reality that war is just around the corner has changed our plans from being contingency plans into operational plans.

"Everything is extremely tense out here at the moment and everybody is just trying to gear themselves as well as possible in terms of humanitarian supplies and people for the eventual humanitarian assistance after a conflict."