PARIS, Jan 5 AFP - More cases of cancer in former Balkan peacekeepers came to light today as governments ordered their troops to undergo medical tests despite United States assurances that depleted uranium weapons used by US NATO forces did not cause illness.
“I think I'm owed an explanation for my benefit and that of other servicemen and women,” said Kevin Rudland, 41, a British soldier who served a six-month tour of duty in Bosnia in 1996.
After returning from the region, he developed osteoarthritis and tooth cavities, suffered from stress, lost hair and had to undergo psychiatric treatment.
“This is a big problem that they've got and they need to look into it quickly,” added Rudland. “I may be the first in this country but I believe there are more that have not come forward or do not know yet.”
So far, eight Italian soldiers or civilians have died of leukemia after serving in the Balkans, the Belgian army has reported five cases of fatal cancer cases, and France said it had detected four cases of leukemia in its Balkan veterans.
But the list was growing longer.
“He was sound as a bell when he went to Bosnia,” said the mother of Istvan Koermendi, a Hungarian soldier who served in the Bosnian town of Okucani for two months in 1999.
Koermendi was transferred home “in very bad shape” and died of leukemia shortly after at age 39, said the soldier's mother, quoted by the daily Magyar Hilap.
Greece was also investigating the case of a soldier diagnosed with bone marrow cancer after serving in Bosnia in 1997 and 1998, while two Dutch, a Portuguese and a Czech are reported to have died of leukemia after returning from the region.
Several governments have already ordered medical tests to be carried out on troops who served in the Balkans to check if they have been affected by radiation from depleted uranium (DU) projectiles.
Tests among the 3600 Russian soldiers serving with the NATO-led UN peacekeeping forces in Kosovo will begin next week.
“If it is proven that the illness of servicemen in the peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo is linked to the use of depleted uranium in armaments, then we have to withdraw our troops,” said Sergei Yushenkov, deputy head of the State Duma lower house's defence committee.
Portugal has ordered 10,000 of its soldiers to undergo medical examinations, while Greece announced that 3553 troops who served in Bosnia and Kosovo would be similarly tested.
The Czech defence ministry said today it would create a commission of medical experts to check that 400 Czech soldiers were not suffering from any symptoms of the so-called Balkans syndrome.
Belgium said around 10 per cent of its 12,000 soldiers who served in the Balkans were suffering from varied and unexplained illnesses, including persistent diarrhoea, insomnia and migraine headaches.
Today, NATO chief George Robertson ordered a detailed investigation of Bosnian sites attacked by NATO planes using depleted uranium weapons in response to member states' escalating concerns.
“I have accordingly asked the NATO military authorities to report as soon as possible on where the targets were attacked with munitions using depleted uranium (in Bosnia) and on the quantity of munitions involved,” Robertson said in a letter to Italy's ambassador to NATO.
The head of Kosovo's UN administration, Bernard Kouchner, was to meet health officials today to discuss whether uranium in NATO munitions could damage the health of the province's civilian population, his spokeswoman said.
But the British government continued to down play the link: “We are unaware of anything that shows depleted uranium had caused any ill health of death of people who served in Kosovo or Bosnia,” the defence ministry said.
French Defence Minister Alain Richard said: “For some time, we have been investigating the situation of the soldiers suffering from leukemia to try to see if there is any relation with their proximity to materials attacked by missiles bearing depleted uranium.
“For the moment the results are negative, but we are continuing our investigations and we will take part in the debate within the NATO alliance,” the minister said.
The Pentagon said no adverse effects had been found in US personnel who handled the ammunition and rejected calls for a moratorium on the use of DU shells.
The United States has admitted firing 31,000 DU projectiles during the air campaign against Belgrade in 1999 and 10,800 on Bosnia in 1994 and 1995. Britain has denied using the munitions.