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TITLE: NATO, EU Move Depleted Uranium Row Center Stage |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: Reuters |
DATE: January 9, 2001 |
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Controversy over NATO's use in the Balkans of tank-busting shells tipped with depleted uranium moved firmly onto the political agenda Monday, although health experts doubted any link to blood cancer among soldiers. NATO and the European Union will hold separate meetings this week amid growing concern that radioactive depleted uranium may have caused dozens of cases of leukemia among peacekeepers. While several EU states backed calls for NATO to come clean on where, when and how much depleted uranium (DU) ammunition was used, the alliance insisted there was no risk of contamination.Mark Laity, special adviser to NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, told Reuters Television there was no scientific evidence to prove that the specially hardened munitions designed to pierce tanks were linked to leukemia, a blood cancer."In general terms, the current state of medical opinion is that depleted uranium is not a risk. You just have to take precautions under certain circumstances. But the radiation risks are very low indeed. "That's why it's depleted uranium. It's got less radiation than normal uranium which is in your backyard. You're breathing it now. It's in the air we breathe."That view was supported by World Health Organization experts who doubted the weapons had caused leukemia among troops.But the Geneva-based WHO warned that children playing in former conflict areas where the weapons exploded could be at risk and recommended that soldiers who had taken home DU shell parts as souvenirs should dispose of them promptly."Based on our studies and the evidence we have, it is unlikely that soldiers in Kosovo ran a high risk of contracting leukemia from exposure to radiation from depleted uranium," WHO specialist Michael Repacholi told a news conference. Calls For NATO Details German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder joined calls for NATO to investigate the claims that Western troops in the Balkans fell ill through exposure to the depleted uranium which is used in missiles, shells and bullets to increase armor penetration."We want a complete examination of where these munitions have been used and with what consequences," Schroeder told reporters in Hanover. "Of course we also want to know if there are connections between cases of illness and the use of these weapons." It also emerged that NATO warned its member states 18 months ago of a "possible toxic threat" from radioactive weaponry, widely blamed for the "Balkans Syndrome" that has allegedly caused deaths and cancers among peacekeepers.The German Defense Ministry confirmed reports that NATO issued warnings in July 1999 recommending countries take their own "preventative measures." The controversy erupted after six Italian soldiers died of leukemia after serving in the Balkans.It echoes claims that Western use of depleted uranium weapons in the 1991 Gulf War caused thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths from cancer and the birth of deformed babies. The Pentagon has said it is unlikely there is a link between the use of depleted uranium weapons in the Gulf and veterans' claims they caused a wide range of health problems among the military.U.S. attack jets fired 31,000 rounds of the ammunition against Serb targets during NATO's 1999 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighboring Bosnia in 1994-5. Scottish Waters Littered With Shells In Britain, the environmental group Friends of the Earth and a Scottish parliamentarian demanded a cleanup of waters around Scotland after the Defense Ministry admitted it fired over 6,000 DU shells into the Solway Firth in training in the past decade. ATO political advisers will discuss the DU row Tuesday and the North Atlantic Council -- the alliance's permanent ambassadors -- meets on the issue in Brussels Wednesday. NATO medical experts meet next Monday.Swedish Defense Minister Bjoern von Sydow said the European Union's new Political and Security Committee would also discuss the controversy Tuesday, but he warned against any quick fixes.EU foreign ministers were also expected to add the issue to the agenda for their monthly meeting in Brussels Jan. 22. Nations Step Up Military Health Checks Germany's Defense Ministry said it would review all leukemia cases in the military to see if there was a higher rate in those soldiers who had served in the Balkans. Finland, Greece and Norway all stepped up health checks and radiation controls for their troops, and Switzerland said it would reexamine the death of an officer who served in Bosnia in 1998. Three Portuguese ministers will visit Kosovo to see whether soldiers are at risk from so-called "Balkans Syndrome," following the death from brain disease of one Portuguese soldier who served in Kosovo and news that another has leukemia.Croatian Premier Ivica Racan vowed to press NATO to clarify whether alliance aircraft dumped depleted uranium bombs in the Adriatic Sea as they returned from Kosovo to bases in Italy. END |