NATO group: DU does not cause cancer

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- No evidence exists so far to support claims of a link between depleted uranium (DU) munitions and cancer, a NATO committee has said.

The committee, consisting of 19 NATO members and 30 partners, announced its findings on Wednesday after two weeks of research.

The committee had been hastily convened after some member states became concerned about a possible connection between the U.S. firing 40,000 DU-tipped shells during the 1999 Kosovo war and subsequent cancer-related illnesses among peacekeepers in the region.

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Committee Chairman Daniel Speckhard said peacekeepers in the NATO-led missions in Bosnia and Kosovo were no sicker than those who had not.

More than a dozen nations had tested their soldiers or sent teams to the region since the DU scare broke out shortly after Christmas.

He said: "To date, based on preliminary findings, there has been no indication of increased levels of radioactivity at any of the sites tested."

The 30 partners who helped in the report include those who deployed troops in the Balkans missions, such as Malaysia, Argentina, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Azerbaijan.

The announcement reinforces the report issued last week by NATO's top military medical officers which denied a link.

And it was backed by comments by NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Joseph Ralston who said it would be "irresponsible" not to use DU-tipped weapons if his troops came under fire in future.

Ralston is on a two-day trip to Greece, meeting defence and foreign officials, to discuss DU and the general Kosovo situation.

He said: "I have a responsibility to protect the soldiers in Kosovo.

"In the unlikely event that KFOR soldiers or citizens were attacked tonight by a tank I would be irresponsible not to use depleted uranium."

Greeks take to the streets outside the defense ministry in protest at NATO's use of DU in Kosovo

Ralston added: "None of the nations reported finding a health link between health complaints of personnel employed in the Balkans and depleted uranium munitions."

NATO spokesman Mark Laity said in an effort to have "maximum transparency and openness" the alliance had posted a detailed map on its Web site showing the target sites in Bosnia and Kosovo where DU munitions had been fired.

But he did admit it was "quite possible" that tiny traces of highly radioactive plutonium and uranium 236 would turn up in Balkans soil samples now being taken or analysed by international experts.

But he added, traces would be too small to be of concern.

NATO's announcement coincides with a four-member team of experts from the World Health Organisation visiting Kosovo to collect information on the possible exposure of civilians to DU and other environmental pollutants.

Erik Schouten, head of the WHO office in Kosovo said: "This mission is here to look at the civilian population in Kosovo and the internationals working here" -- and not with the military personnel in the region.

NATO's committee will continue to meet weekly as "scores" of studies -- national and multilateral -- are being carried out.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Greek Government

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