New inquiry into uranium scare

Concerns are growing over risk to civilians

The World Health Organisation is sending a team of experts to Kosovo to investigate if there is a link between the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons and cases of cancer.

The visit, beginning on Monday, will focus on civilians who may have been in contact with debris from exploded DU shells.

The mission was requested by the UN's ex-head in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, amid continuing concern about the effects of DU ammunition on the health of Balkans peacekeepers.

The announcement came as Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica - speaking on his first official visit to Bosnia - insisted that the United Nations should treat Nato's use of DU weapons in the Balkans as a war crime.

DU weapons were used by the US in Kosovo and Bosnia, and by American and British forces in the Gulf War.

Many veterans of both conflicts believe that DU has damaged their health - a claim rejected by the US and UK Governments and by Nato.

Civilian fears

Fears are being expressed that civilians may have suffered even greater exposure to radioactive materials.

The four-strong WHO team will make an initial assessment of the situation and try to find ways of minimising any risks from continuing exposure, said a spokesman.

There could be other factors in the environment that are producing health effects

WHO spokesman
Mike Repacholi

But the mission will also try to establish if there are other substances besides DU in the area that could be causing health problems.

"We don't want to concentrate our efforts on DU when there could be other factors in the environment that are producing health effects," said Mike Repacholi, WHO's co-ordinator for occupational and environmental health.

The mission would also enable WHO to "start looking at further studies of populations that might have been exposed to depleted uranium," he said.

Some veterans claim their health has suffered

Controversy over the weapons has deepened since reports emerged that some might have contained plutonium, which is even deadlier than uranium.

Germany has demanded answers from Washington over the claims, and the US charge d'affaires in Berlin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to give an explanation.

Many governments across Europe are already conducting inquiries into whether soldiers were put at an increased risk of cancer by the DU shells.

On Thursday, Italian Defence Minister Sergio Mattarella announced the death of an eighth Italian soldier who served with the NATO-led peacekeeping forces in the Balkans.

'Higher radiation risk'

Switzerland and Spain have added their voices to concern at the possible use of plutonium, and have instructed their teams already gathering evidence on the DU shells to check for plutonium.

The UN said earlier this week that recycled uranium appeared to have been used in DU weapons in Kosovo.

The radioactivity of recycled uranium is higher than that found in DU, and some experts say it would make it more likely that plutonium was also present.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said the separation of plutonium from uranium during the reprocessing of nuclear fuel would normally leave traces.