All news on this page courtesy of the The Times & Sunday Times Newspapers, London, UK
THE Ministry of Defence is to examine allegations that British soldiers without proper protective clothing used dangerous pesticides during the Gulf War to destroy disease-carrying insects.
The allegations follow the announcement last week by Nicholas Soames, the Armed Forces Minister, that pesticides containing organophosphates were used in large quantities to spray tents and other military equipment to protect British soldiers from flies and other insects in the desert in Saudi Arabia.
A report by Sergeant Anthony Worthington of 4 Armoured Brigade, who was apparently responsible for environmental health for the brigade during the Gulf War, claimed that spraying was carried out by soldiers wearing no protective clothing.
A ministry spokesman said that under normal procedures personnel involved in pesticide spraying would have worn protective clothing. An investigation was under way to discover whether accepted procedures were ignored during the Gulf War.
Senior Ministry officials have insisted that only a small number of military personnel might have been affected by organophosphate poisoning and claimed that there were no soldiers inside the tents when they were disinfected.
The ministry spokesman said that the spraying had played an important role in the "remarkable" control of disease among British troops.
Mr Soames's announcement has been seized upon by associations representing veterans suffering from so-called Gulf War syndrome. Eddie Blench, founder member of the Gulf Veterans' Association, said: "I want to see some proper medical treatment and compensation for veterans. This is another step forward, but it doesn't mean to say because it's an admission that they are going to do anything about it."
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