KUWAIT

The gulf countriesare oil the blink of all environmental disaster. Morethan 200 vessels - wreckedduring the two wars in theregion - carrying militaryhardware, explosives and oil,are lying on the floor of thePersian Gulf, according toMahmoud Abdul Raheem,coordinator of the Kuwait-based Regional Organisationfor the Protection of theMai me Environment. Of allthe countries in the region,Kuwait seems to be it thehighest risk of pollution asmost of the ships were sunknear the Kuwaiti coastline.Ali Iraqi VLCC (very largecrude carrier), An7oriva,poses the biggest hazard, as it went down carrying200,000 tonnes (700,000 barrels) of oil. Moreover, thevessel lies 100 kill fromKuwait's coastline in thewave-breaking area (thestrongest place where wavesbreak), thus exposing it tocorrosion. Projects approved by the InternationalMaritime Organization andhacked by the UnitedNation, to retrieve about 20major wrecks are in thepipeline.