CNN, 21 gennaio
German anger at plutonium weapons
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/germany/01/21/uranium/index.html
Web posted at: 7:05 AM EST (1205 GMT)

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- Germany has accused the U.S. of failing to inform NATO nations of the potential contamination of uranium munitions with plutonium.

Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said the U.S. had apparently known for some time about the possible contamination.

"It should be the damned duty of a friendly nation to inform their partner," Scharping said after visiting German soldiers near Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Fears about a possible -- though unproven -- link between uranium tipped weapons and cancers among soldiers have been exacerbated by admissions that plutonium traces may also have been in the weapons.

NATO and many member states have launched their own investigations into the potential health risks caused by weapons tipped with uranium to improve their armour piercing capabilities.

The weapons, containing depleted uranium (DU), were used in the Gulf War and against Yugoslav forces during the Kosovo campaign and the 1994-95 Bosnian war.

Fears were first raised earlier this month by Italy which questioned whether the illnesses suffered by about 30 soldiers, who had served in the Balkans, were connected to the uranium weapons fired in the area.

Last week the U.S. confirmed some uranium arms fired in the Balkans may also have been contaminated with plutonium at the manufacturing plant.

Scharping attacked "our American friends" for offering the pages of the Internet as a response when asked for information about the DU munitions.

"The Internet is not the way to share information between governments," the minister said.

Scharping has been heavily criticised in Germany for not reacting quickly enough to the health concerns and was accompanied to the Balkans by a senior researcher from the Munich Research Centre for Environment and Health who planned to take earth and water samples during the trip to test for traces of plutonium.

The centre has already tested more than 100 German soldiers who served in Kosovo and found no evidence of increased levels of uranium or any sickness that could be linked to it.

Last week Scharping took the highly unusual step of calling in the U.S. charge d'affaires in Berlin to seek more information about plutonium traces in the weapons.

Although the defence minister believes the uranium threat to health is negligible he summed the U.S. diplomat to "express the concerns that are triggered by the word plutonium."

Australia became the latest country on Sunday to announce testing of its troops who served in the Balkans. The government said soldiers will have blood and urine tests to measure their possible exposure to depleted uranium.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.