28 December 2000

The Ministry of Defence is "closely monitoring" investigations being carried out by its Nato allies into whether soldiers were exposed to dangerous levels of depleted uranium in ammunition used by US forces in Kosovo.

Spain is the latest country to announce that it is carrying out tests on soldiers who served in Kosovo. All 32,000 who went to the Serbian province will receive medical checks.

Italy and France are carrying out similar checks, and Portugal has decided to send scientists to Kosovo to check radiation levels on spent rounds.

The Dutch government is considering an inquiry into the possible effects of depleted uranium on soldiers who served elsewhere in the Balkans.

The United Nations sent a team to Kosovo last month to carry out its own inquiry into the effects of depleted uranium (DU) and is expected to report its findings in February.

The Ministry of Defence said yesterday that although it was carrying out research on weapons containing DU, no tests had been carried out on British soldiers who served in the Kosovo Force (KFor). But a spokesman added: "We are very interested in the various investigations being carried out and we shall be closely monitoring them.

"There are no tests on soldiers planned at the moment, but that does not mean none will be carried out in the future. We are open to any evidence which is presented to us."

Around 1,400 British ex-servicemen who served in the Gulf war are registered as suffering from Gulf war syndrome. Another 469 have died. Campaigners say exposure to DU is partly to blame. The British Governmentmaintains that there is no evidence of a link.

In March this year Lord Robertson, the Nato secretary-general, told the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, that around 31,000 rounds of ammunition containing DU were used by American A-10 ground attack aircraft in Kosovo.

A Pentagon spokesman said this week that there had been no outbreaks of illnesses linked to DU, such as leukaemia, among US troops who served in the Balkans. The US Defense Department has said that rounds containing DU carried no greater health risks than conventional weapons.