French tests fail to reveal uranium traces

Tests on five French soldiers who served in the Balkans have not revealed any traces of depleted uranium.

Tests were carried out on six soldiers who served in Bosnia and in Kosovo and who are now suffering from severe leukaemia or lymphoma.

Urine tests of five of the six patients did not reveal any traces of depleted uranium. For the sixth patient, the tests are continuing, says the defence ministry in Paris.

Investigators are still trying to find out what risk factors could have caused the illnesses, the ministry added.

A growing number of Balkan veterans fear they are at risk for cancer and other ailments, possibly due to exposure to ammunition containing depleted uranium.

Nato, which used the ammunition in Bosnia and during its 78-day bombing campaign in Kosovo in 1999, says that there is no evidence that remains of depleted-uranium rounds pose a health risk.

But cases of illness have fuelled a growing controversy.

French Defence Minister Alain Richard said last week that the occurrence of leukaemia among French soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia was not very different from the frequency of cases in the rest of the population.

The ministry has launched a study of all soldiers who served in the Balkans since 1992 to determine if they were exposed to anything during the conflict that might have triggered the illnesses.