[CPEO-MEF] FRANCE JOINS CALL FOR INFORMATION ON USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM INBALKAN

[mervtano@iiirm.org]

FRANCE JOINS CALL FOR INFORMATION ON USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM IN BALKANS

PARIS, Jan 4 (AFP) - France Thursday added its voice to those asking NATO to
supply more information about the use of depleted uranium in weapons
deployed in the Balkans and announced that four of its troops who served
there are suffering from leukemia.
    "We are calling on our American partners to be open on the subject,"
Defense Minister Alain Richard told journalists.
    On Wednesday, NATO agreed to an Italian request to hold a meeting next
week to examine fears that exposure to depleted uranium may have led to the
deaths of six Italian soldiers who served with NATO forces in
Bosnia-Hercegovina.
    Soldiers in Portugal and Belgium have also been diagnosed with leukemia,
but NATO has insisted there is no evidence to link the illnesses with the
use of radioactive components in missiles.
    French defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau told a press
conference that four soldiers who served in the Balkans were in military
hospitals in France being treated for leukemia.
    "The minister hopes that tests will be made to see if a link can be
established between the existence of these cases and the fact that the
affected personnel served in the Balkans," Bureau said.
    NATO officials said last month that US aircraft fired more than 10,000
depleted uranium projectiles in Bosnia between 1994 and 1995, and in Kosovo
in 1999.
    Depleted uranium munitions are more dense than conventional ones,
allowing them to penetrate heavy armour more easily.
    In addition to the Balkans, they were used in Iraq in 1991 and have been
linked by some to the so-called Gulf War syndrome suffered by soldiers who
fought in that conflict.


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