The British government was forced into an embarrassing u-turn today, when it said military personnel who served in Kosovo and Bosnia would be tested for contamination from depleted uranium (DU) weapons.
But the climb-down, which came in a Commons statement by the Armed Forces Minister, John Spellar, after the Ministry of Defence had consistently maintained such screening was unnecessary, failed to satisfy veterans groups who bitterly attacked the tests being offered as flawed.
Mr Spellar's statement had been hurriedly brought forward by 48 hours following pressure from Downing Street. There has been intense and mounting publicity over the issue, both domestically and abroad, with Britain seemingly out of step with European allies taking safety measures.
The minister sought to salvage the Ministry of Defence's official position by insisting that the Government still did not accept there was any connection between the use of DU weaponry and the illnesses being suffered by former service personnel. Instead, the programme was intended to provide "reassurance" following growing concern among other European nations with troops in the region.
Defence officials added to the uncertainty by admitting it still had not been decided who would carry out the tests or when they would start.
The tensions within Whitehall over the matter was highlighted by the fact that there was final agreement to offer the medical tests just 12 hours ago, and while Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon was away in Stockholm for a meeting of the European Union's political and security committee.
Mr Hoon, who had wanted to make the statement himself tomorrow, was "kept informed" while the decisions were made by ministers in consultation with Downing Street and the Department of Health. Hours before the screening officials at the Ministry of Defence were insisting that there would not be one. The Government had wanted to wait until the publication of a report on DU being prepared by the Royal Society, expected in March, before finalising details.
Yesterday, Mr Spellar acknowledged that the uranium dust released after the missiles had hit their target could potentially represent a hazard. But he said studies of veterans from the Gulf War had found no evidence of higher cancer rates or of chemical poisoning.
Michael Burrows, senior coordinator of the National Gulf Veterans' and Families' Association, said he could not see any benefits from a voluntary screening programme.
"The screening that he is talking about is for uranium, not depleted uranium and from what we have been told by the Gulf Veterans' Illness Unit in the Ministry of Defence, there isn't anywhere in the country that can carry out checks for DU," he said.
Sunderland University's Professor Malcolm Hooper, a member of the Gulf War illnesses inter-Parliamentary Group, said: "It seems as though they are hell bent on not getting any information that would put any block on the development of these depleted uranium munitions.
Former Army engineer Kevin Rudland, who claimed to have suffered from osteoarthritis, hair loss and post traumatic stress disorder after serving in Bosnia, said: "They are just trying to cover up by saying there wasn't a problem when there so obviously was."
Reverberations over the affair continued among Nato allies with Norwegian soldiers to serve in former Yugoslavia until they had received further information about risks from DU.
The 400 soldiers from the country's elite Telemark Battalion were supposed to have signed contracts of service in Kosovo due to start in June when Norway takes over the command of the international Kosovo Force (KFOR). The defence ministry in Oslo has agreed to extend the deadline for the contracts by a week.
The wave of safety measures had begun after Italy's decision last month to investigate illnesses among 30 of its soldiers who had served in the Balkans. The Italian defence minister Sergio Mattarella yesterday called for a suspension by Nato of the use of DU tipped weapons until further investigation.
The call is expected to be rejected by Nato. However, the Alliance is due to announce today that its chief medical officers will meet on 15 January to discuss the DU and its effects.
- REUTERS
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