Iraq has again emphasised the serious cost to the Iraqi population of eight years of international sanctions.

According to new figures published by the health ministry, more than six-thousand children under the age of five died last month as a result of diseases including diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition.

Iraq says the mortality rate among the under-fives has increased sixteen-fold since the sanctions came into effect.

It says fatal diseases among old people have also risen significantly.