NEW evidence
that Gulf war syndrome exists and was caused by radiation poisoning
will be revealed today by a former American army colonel who was
at the centre of his government's attempts to diagnose the illness.
Dr Asaf Durakovic
will tell a conference of eminent nuclear scientists in Paris
that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers
are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) shells fired
during the Gulf war.
The findings
will undermine the British and American governments' claims that
Gulf war syndrome does not exist and intensify pressure from veterans
on both sides of the Atlantic for compensation.
Durakovic,
who is professor of nuclear medicine at Georgetown University,
Washington, and the former head of nuclear medicine at the US
Army's veterans' affairs medical facility in Delaware, will tell
the conference that he and his team of American and Canadian scientists
have discovered life-threateningly high levels of DU in Gulf veterans
10 years after the desert war.
His findings,
which have been verified by four independent experts, is embarrassing
for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and American Defence Department,
which have consistently refused to test Gulf war veterans for
DU.
Durakovic
will tell the European Association of Nuclear Medicine that tests
on 17 veterans have shown DU in the urine and bones of 70% of
them.
Depleted uranium
does not occur naturally. It is the by-product of the industrial
processing of waste from nuclear reactors and is better known
as weapons-grade uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of
shells to ensure that they pierce armour.
Durakovic,
who left America because he was told his life was in danger if
he continued his research, has concluded that troops inhaled the
tiny uranium particles after American and British forces fired
more than 700,000 DU shells during the conflict.
The finding
begins to explain for the first time why medical orderlies and
mechanics are the principal victims of Gulf war syndrome.
British Army
engineers who removed tanks hit by DU shells from the battlefield
and medical personnel who cut off the clothes of Iraqi casualties
in field hospitals have been disproportionately affected.
Once inside
the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney
damage or wastage from immune deficiency disorders.
In the UK,
where more than 400 veterans are estimated to have died from "Gulf
war syndrome", at least 50 of those victims came from Reme
(Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) units. Others, such
as Ray Bristow, 42, of Hull, who was a theatre technician for
32 Field Hospital, are now wheelchair-bound.
Tests carried
out by Durakovic on Bristow showed that, nine years after leaving
the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of DU in his
body.
Durakovic
said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the
audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary
cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that
it is a leading factor in the majority of victims.
"I hope
the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing
to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own
soldiers."
An MoD spokesman
said it would study any new evidence: "Our aim is to get
the best care for British veterans and our views are based on
the best evidence around."
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