PARIS, Jan 9, 2001 -- (Reuters) France decided on Tuesday to expand a parliamentary probe into "Gulf War syndrome" to include the Balkans as concern mounted that uranium-tipped arms used in both theaters might have caused cancer in soldiers and civilians.

The National Assembly defense committee announced the decision as Paris discovered a fifth case of leukemia in a Balkans veteran and a journalist announced she was suffering from "Gulf War syndrome" after covering both wars.

"It is not possible to ignore the emotion and concern about the health of our soldiers," said committee head Paul Quiles.

Several NATO states have expressed concern that radioactive dust from tank-busting shells containing depleted uranium (DU) may have caused leukemia in soldiers exposed to it during the 1991 Gulf War or from fighting in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Concern mounted in France after Marie-Claude Dubin, a freelance journalist who covered both Iraq and Bosnia for the Paris daily France-Soir and several radio stations, said she was suffering from the symptoms of "Gulf War syndrome."

That term is used to describe a range of mysterious ills, from flu to constant fatigue and asthma, reported by thousands of Gulf veterans from the United States, Britain and France.

The French probe has so far focused on the possibility that soldiers were exposed to chemical weapons or took overly strong anti-nerve drugs in a mistaken precaution against them.

Also on Tuesday, the French military announced that any Balkans veteran who wanted could have a medical examination to detect any traces of uranium possibly left by the weapons.

Six Italian soldiers who had served as peacekeepers in the region have died of leukemia. Health experts remain doubtful about links to blood cancer but NATO and the European Union will hold separate meetings this week to address the issue.

CALLS FOR U.S. TO OPEN FILES ON ARMS

Quiles, a former Socialist defense minister, called on the United States to open up its files on the suspect weapons.

U.S. attack jets fired 31,000 rounds of DU ammunition during NATO's 1999 campaign to end Serb repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. About 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighboring Bosnia in 1994-95.

France has DU ammunition stocks but has not used them in the Balkans, the government has said.

"This is a serious problem that raises the question of the United States' loyalty towards its allies," Quiles said.

"The American armed forces continue to take unilateral decisions without informing their allies, not even afterwards."

Dubin told the daily Le Parisien she suffered from intestinal, neurological and muscular problems and suspected that DU weapons could be the cause.

"I'm not saying that uranium was certainly the cause, but I am ill and I have the same symptoms as the veterans," she said. "There are studies that prove that depleted uranium is dangerous because of the toxic dust it emits."

Dubin accused both the U.S. and the French military of wanting to hide what she said was the fact that these weapons presented a health hazard to the troops that used them.

"Going to Iraq, I knew I could be exposed to enemy chemical weapons and I signed a waiver. But I did not know I was exposed to allied weapons containing depleted uranium.

"I was very surprised to hear in the past few days that weapons containing depleted uranium were used in Bosnia because I went there as well during the conflict in 1994 and 1995.