Iraq, WHO agree method for depleted uranium probe.
BAGHDAD, Aug 30 (Reuters) - A team from the World Health Organisation concluded on Thursday initial talks with Iraq on the methodology to research a possible link between cancer and depleted uranium weapons used by Western forces in the Gulf War.
The Iraqi News Agency said Iraqi officials agreed to allow the WHO team to
conduct field research and have access to the
mainly southern areas that were bombarded using depleted uranium shells in the
1991 war.
The team, whose mission is expected to last two years, will also launch a
comprehensive study to assess the state of public
health in Iraq since the war, which together with U.N. sanctions drove Iraq's
economy, education and public health system to
collapse.
Baghdad says depleted uranium, which is used to harden shells so they can
pierce heavy armour, is behind a growing
environmental disaster and a sharp rise in cancer cases and birth defects.
Official newspaper al-Thawra on Thursday quoted studies saying that the U.S.-led coalition used 944,000 depleted uranium shells on Iraq during the Gulf War. Fears about the health risks to troops using depleted uranium weapons arose after six Italian soldiers died of leukemia following exposure to weapons while serving in the former Yugoslavia.
Other European nations including France, Spain and Belgium have also reported
an increase in cancer cases among soldiers
exposed to depleted uranium, but NATO says there is no scientific evidence to
link the illnesses to the controversial
weapons.