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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 16, 2003

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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- At least 60 trucks left Jordan on Wednesday carrying flour and medical supplies for neighboring Iraq.

Jordan dispatched 11 trucks carrying medical supplies. In addition, 50 trucks carrying flour donated by the World Food Program left the Jordanian border post of al-Karameh.

Health Minister Waleed al-Maa'ni said the shipment of 88 tons of medicine was donated by Jordan's Health Ministry and includes antibiotics, pain killers, burns ointments and gauze.

The supplies are being sent to the al-Kharkh hospital in Baghdad for distribution to other hospitals in Iraq, al-Maa'ni told The Associated Press. He said another shipment of medicines, including antibiotics and plasma, was to leave Thursday.

International relief organizations have said many Iraqi hospitals, particularly those in Baghdad, are stretched to their limits by medicine shortages and overworked staff.

Al-Maa'ni said a team of experts accompanied the trucks Wednesday to find possible locations for two field hospitals that Jordan's King Abdullah II wants to send to Iraq.

Also, a vessel carrying 12,000 blankets left the Spanish port of Valencia for Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba. The shipment was donated by the Spanish Red Cross and is expected to arrive in Jordan in 10 days.