BRITAIN remained firmly of the view yesterday that the firing of depleted uranium shells by American aircraft during Nato's bombing campaign in Kosovo posed no health risk for British peacekeepers. Unlike Italy, however, which is investigating the death of several Balkans veterans from leukaemia, there have been no reported cases of cancer-related illnesses suffered by British soldiers who have served in either Kosovo or the earlier Bosnia conflict.

The Ministry of Defence's experience has been confined to the 1991 Gulf War, which did lead to mystery illnesses among about 5,000 veterans, some of whom have blamed the use of depleted uranium weapons.

Forty British soldiers who served in the Gulf War were so convinced that their illnesses could be blamed on the firing of depleted uranium shells that they went to Canada for tests.

A Canadian expert, Hari Sharma, examined the men and declared that they were suffering from uranium poisoning. However, the MoD said that Professor Sharma's findings had not been published in any scientific journal and all attempts to persuade him to send his work to be examined in Britain had failed.

The Royal Society is carrying out a review of the possible effects of depleted uranium weapons and MoD officials have given evidence to its inquiry. The society's report is due in the spring.

The MoD has taken comfort, however, from a new Pentagon report that has effectively ruled out any link between cancer and weapons tipped with armour-piercing depleted uranium.

The Pentagon report said that depleted uranium was 40 per cent less radioactive than natural uranium and that there were normally between two and four tonnes of uranium in the top foot of soil per square mile.

However, veterans claim that the danger emanates from radioactive dust spread by the weapons into the atmosphere, which if ingested in substantial amounts could damage organs.

The American Department of Veteran Affairs has been monitoring 33 Gulf War veterans who were seriously injured in 'friendly-fire' incidents involving depleted uranium. About half of them still have depleted uranium fragments in their bodies.

The Pentagon report said that so far results indicated that although many of them continued to have medical problems, they did not relate to their exposure to depleted uranium. The report also said that 'no human cancer of any type has ever been seen as a result of exposure to natural or depleted uranium'.