----- Original Message ----- From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: BALKAN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; SIEM NEWS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: NATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 10:14 PM Subject: EU Demands Truth From NATO Over Uranium Shells [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at ListBot http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EU Demands Truth From NATO Over Uranium Shells By Anna Baker LONDON (Reuters) - European Commission (news - web sites) President Romano Prodi demanded on Thursday to know the truth behind claims that depleted uranium used in NATO (news - web sites) weapons had caused death or illness among Balkan peacekeepers. Several European nations including the current holders of the European Union (news - web sites) presidency, Sweden, echoed Prodi's concerns, intensifying pressure on NATO to investigate the so-called ''Balkan Syndrome.'' In Bosnia, the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) dismissed the claims, saying ammunition with depleted uranium used during the 1992-95 war there posed only a ``negligible hazard.'' The syndrome came under the spotlight following reports that six Italian soldiers who served in the former Yugoslavia had developed leukemia and died after exposure to spent ammunition. France became the latest country on Thursday to announce that it was conducting its own inquiry into the syndrome, after four of its Balkan veterans contracted leukemia. It noted that as yet no link to spent ammunition was apparent. Depleted uranium is used in the tips of missiles, shells and bullets to increase their ability to penetrate armor and can be pulverized on impact into a toxic radioactive dust, defense experts say. Nato Says No Plans To Change Prodi said that even if there were the slightest risk from the munitions, they should be abolished. ``I want the truth to be ascertained, not only concerning the soldiers, but also for the people who lived near them, the population,'' Prodi told Italian state radio. U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition against Serbian tanks and armored vehicles during NATO's 1999 Kosovo campaign, according to a United Nations (news - web sites) expert. Some 10,000 were fired in neighboring Bosnia in 1994-95, NATO officials reported only last month. NATO spokesman Mark Laity ruled out any immediate plans to destroy stocks of depleted uranium munitions. ``The onus is on those who call ill health to prove it, rather than on us, who don't,'' he told CNN. ``If things change, NATO will change.'' In a bid to establish the facts, Belgium has urged EU defense ministers to analyze and debate peacekeepers' health problems for the first time at EU level. Sweden welcomed the proposal and said it would be discussed at a meeting next Tuesday of the interim Political and Security Committee. ``It is important that we act,'' Swedish Defense Minister Bjorn von Sydow said in a statement on Thursday. He said that Sweden's ambassador to NATO would consult with the alliance, although the country is not itself a NATO member. NATO ambassadors are expected to discuss the issue at their regular meeting next Wednesday, NATO sources said. Mystery Ailments Belgium has reported that five peacekeepers who were in Bosnia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia have died from cancer. It said that other soldiers who had been on Balkan peacekeeping missions during the 1990s reported a variety of unexplained ailments, including headaches and insomnia. The Netherlands reported that two soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia had died from leukemia and Portugal has raised concerns over the death of one of its Balkans veterans. Both countries, along with Bulgaria, Finland and Greece, said tests were being conducted among troops who served in the Balkans and who are still in Kosovo. Germany and Spain said tests among their peacekeeping troops had so far turned up no evidence of ``Balkan Syndrome.'' Concerns Grow For Civilians Concerns over the risks of depleted uranium shells during the Kosovo campaign have been voiced by civilian aid workers in Britain, the Netherlands and Italy. An umbrella group called the Italian Consortium for Solidarity, comprising some 100 non-governmental organizations active in the Balkans since 1992, cited a study by British scientist Roger Coghill which estimated some 10,000 possible future deaths from cancer due to use of uranium in the Balkans. ``I think the local people are in most danger,'' said Martina Iannizzotto, the Belgrade-based coordinator of the group's activities in Yugoslavia. Italian fishermen urged their government to investigate whether any of the bombs dumped by planes during the Kosovo campaign and dredged up in nets contained depleted uranium. A U.N. report in May warned that much of Kosovo's water could be so contaminated as to be unfit to drink, and that a clean-up of the province could cost billions of dollars. It warned U.N. staff not to approach any target which might have been hit by a depleted uranium weapon. Prodi proposed setting up immediate contact with the governments of Bosnia and Serbia to discuss pollution and problems linked to depleted uranium. SFOR said a U.N. Environmental Program was due to report early in 2001 on any possible risks after measuring radiation levels in soil samples. Miroslav Antic, http://www.antic.org/SNN/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
