A two-man team from the United Nations Environment programme is going to Sarajevo today Thursday for discussions on determining levels of depleted uranium left behind from NATO bombing.

Several European countries including Italy, Portugal and France have reporterd a higher incidence of cancer among soldiers who served in the Balkans and were exposed to munitions incorporating depleted uranium. NATO has always insisted that there is no significant risk to health from using such bombs and shells. Allied forces dropped the greatest concentration of DU ammunition on the town of Hadzici, near Sarajevo, where the Bosnian Serb army had a weapons depot.

Most of the Serbs from Hadzici are now living in the town of Bratunac, in eastern Bosnia, and doctors there have reported a greatly increased incidence of cancer-type illnesses.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service