Claims that child mortality rose in Iraq following economic sanctions are "a major deception", researchers have claimed.
A new article published in a medical journal states that Saddam Hussein's government "successfully manipulated" a major survey which implied that the death rate for under fives in Iraq had increased hugely between 1990 and 1991.
After Saddam Hussein's army invaded Kuwait in August 1990 the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq.
The authors of the new paper, published in the journal BMJ Global Health, wrote that the sanctions "undoubtedly" greatly reduced the country's ability to import supplies of food and medicine.
Particular concerns were raised about the impact on young children.
In 1999 Unicef conducted a major demographic survey in cooperation with the Iraqi government.
The survey found the death rate for under fives in Iraq increased greatly between 1990 and 1991 and had then continued at a very high level.
The authors noted: "The survey results indicated that children in the centre/south of Iraq were dying at over twice the rate of 10 years earlier.
"Unicef's Executive Director noted that there was an ongoing humanitarian emergency in the country and that there would have been 500,000 fewer child deaths during 1991–1998 had the fall in mortality of the 1980s continued throughout 1991–1998.
"Concern was understandably expressed that whenever economic sanctions are imposed on a country they should be designed and executed so that they do not have a negative impact on children."
The authors added that the survey results were used both to challenge and support the case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But the authors say the findings were "remarkable fiction".
They said that since 2003 several more surveys dealing with child mortality have been undertaken and their results show no sign of a huge and enduring rise in the death rate for under fives starting in 1991.
"It is therefore clear that Saddam Hussein's government successfully manipulated the 1999 survey in order to convey a very false impression - something that is surely deserving of greater recognition," the authors Tim Dyson and Valeria Cetorelli from the London School of Economics wrote.
They added the "government of Iraq cleverly manipulated survey data to fool the international community".
They conclude: "The rigging of the 1999 Unicef survey was an especially masterful fraud. That it was a deception is beyond doubt, although it is still not generally known."