NATO to probe use of depleted uranium

 BRUSSELS - NATO yielded to demands of its European members yesterday, creating a commission to probe the health effects of its use of depleted-uranium munitions in the Balkans as the number of suspicious deaths and illnesses among returned peacekeepers mounted.But there was reluctance about the investigation from Britain and the United States, which, along with France, are the only NATO members acknowledged to use the ultra-dense, "tank-busting" munition.The NATO commission is to examine the risks posed by the use by U.S. forces of depleted uranium, or DU, rounds. U.S. aircraft fired some 31,000 such projectiles during NATO's 1999 air war against Yugoslavia, according to the Pentagon.

 The number of cases of cancer and other illnesses among Balkans veterans grew yesterday with the Netherlands' junior defense minister, Henk van Hoof, saying four Dutch peacekeepers who had served in Bosnia or Kosovo had died of leukemia. Previously, reports had counted two deaths.