Palestinians Seek Uranium Probe
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/0202/2297.html
by EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The Palestinians asked the United Nations Friday to investigate what they said was Israel's possible use of depleted uranium ammunition in recent violent clashes.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused Israel in a speech Sunday in Davos, Switzerland of waging a ''barbaric war'' and using depleted uranium against Palestinians in four months of fighting which has left 383 people dead, over 80 percent of them Palestinians.

Israel's army denied the accusation Monday, and Prime Minister Ehud Barak called the Palestinian leaders comments a ''full-fledged attack on the army'' and an ''attack of lies on the state of Israel.''

But in a letter to the Security Council, Palestinian U.N. observer Nasser Al-Kidwa said the army's statement that it ''has never utilized these munitions against any civilian population'' indicates ''that the Israeli army does indeed possess this kind of ammunition in its arsenal and that it has used it in the past.''

The Palestinian envoy called on Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in cooperation with the Security Council, to look into the possibility of sending inspection teams to Israel.

Israel's U.N. mission said the Israeli Defense Force spokesman reiterated the denial that such ammunition was used against civilian populations, but had no further comment because of the Jewish Sabbath.

NATO's use of depleted uranium ammunition during conflicts in the Balkans has sparked a scare across Europe that residue may have caused serious illnesses in peacekeeping troops who served in Bosnia and Kosovo and among civilians in the region.

But the 19-member NATO alliance has repeatedly denied the ammunition could have triggered cancer in soldiers. A NATO committee set up Jan. 10 to deal with the issue said last week that no evidence has been found to link depleted uranium munitions and any increase in illness.