All news on this page courtesy of the The Telegraph Newspaper, London, UK

BRITAIN'S Surgeon General at the time of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait defended yesterday the Government's delay in launching a full investigation of Gulf war illness.

Sir Peter Beale, who is now the chief medical adviser to the British Red Cross, said it took a long time to find enough sufferers to warrant a major study. He said that sickness rates were unremarkable during the conflict and it was only 18 to 24 months later that he became aware of a campaign to recognise the syndrome.

Despite widespread appeals, only 15 sufferers came forward, too small a number to show any pattern. It was not until this year that 1,100 had been registered and 920 investigated. Now the Government has agreed to full epidemiological studies into the incidence of illness among British veterans of the Gulf conflict. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Sir Peter said: "I have tried to show how difficult it has been to decide exactly when this decision could have been made."

Veterans in both Britain and America have pressed for recognition of Gulf war illness, which produces symptoms ranging from rashes to chronic fatigue. Lawyers for 1,000 British veterans say that the likely cause was a cocktail of drugs given to soldiers to protect them against chemical and biological weapons.