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Iraq demands UK compensation for Gulf War
28 May 1998
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq Wednesday
demanded compensation from Britain over
its use of depleted uranium shells in the Gulf
War.
Britain said it had not been given details of
the claim and had not seen any evidence to
suggest that the shells were to blame for
illnesses reported by people living in
southern Iraq.
Depleted uranium is used to harden
ammunition, making it highly effective in
piercing tank armor. It is not seen as a
radioactive weapon, but it can be toxic.
The Iraqi News Agency INA said the
complaint relating to the activities of British
forces in the 1991 war to eject Iraq from
Kuwait was filed Tuesday by Iraqi Foreign
Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf to U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The letter focused on "a new and additional
admission" by the British Foreign Office on
April 30 in an official statement that "British
tanks used depleted uranium shells during
the Gulf War on orders from the British
Ministry of Defense."
"This new admission asserts previous
confirmations made by official and unofficial
British and U.S. organizations that the
coalition troops committed annihilation
crimes punishable by international law," the
letter said.
"Scientific studies and research have
unequivocally shown that the United States
and Britain used depleted uranium in their
military operations against Iraq, exposing
vast areas to fatal radioactive pollution."
"A number of diseases, unfamiliar in the past,
have been registered, such as fetal and bone
deformities and other cases that cannot be
explained, such as loss of hair and strange
skin diseases.
"Individuals living in the bombarded areas
suffer from such diseases, in addition to
rising cases of child leukemia," INA quoted
the letter as saying.
A spokesman for the British Defense Ministry
said the government had not been
approached by the Iraqis seeking
compensation for damage caused by
depleted uranium shells and had not been
given details of any claim.
The use of depleted uranium shells by British
forces had been well-known since 1991, the
spokesman said.
"The government has seen no evidence that
the ill health reported among the population
of southern Iraq is a result of the use of
depleted uranium shells," the spokesman
added.
Britain would, however, consider any medical
evidence on the subject.
Britain is believed to have fired fewer than
100 depleted uranium rounds, according to
British media reports.
British troops were part of the U.S.-led allied
coalition that drove invading Iraqi troops
from Kuwait.
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