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January 21 1996 Army chiefs back inquiry on Gulf war children

by Liz Lightfoot and Hugh McManners

MILITARY chiefs are calling for an independent study into Gulf war sickness and birth defects among children of Gulf veterans as more families reveal the heartbreak they are suffering. The number of reported cases of babies with serious disabilities grew by almost a third last week to 68.

The 16 new families contacted voluntary groups after The Sunday Times highlighted their calls for an independent study to determine if there is a link between the birth defects and toxins which contaminated their fathers during the Gulf war.

Among the children were Annelise MacLean, aged 22 months, who is recovering from a heart transplant, and a four-month-old boy who was born with three ears. In another case, a mother had an abortion after a scan showed that her baby had no limbs.

Concern over the refusal by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to fund an inquiry was expressed by Lord Bramall, the former field marshal and chief of the defence staff. "These people were subjected to an extraordinary cocktail of chemicals, and pathological tests should be done to investigate their effects," he said.

He is among military chiefs who believe the MoD is failing to investigate properly the effects of chemicals used on an unprecedented scale to protect Gulf troops against biological and chemical warfare. Their concern centres on 16 injections given to the troops over a short period, as well as anti-nerve-attack tablets taken over a longer period, and chemical pesticides.

Sir David Ramsbotham, a former adjutant-general who is now chief inspector of prisons, said an independent inquiry was the only responsible thing for the government to do. "We simply do not know how chemical and nerve-agent treatments affect people. It is therefore incumbent upon everybody concerned to learn everything they can ready for a future conflict when these weapons are likely to be used," he said.

A decision on whether the MoD should advise the government to hold an inquiry is to be made on Thursday. Families of children born with defects are desperate for information. Richard MacLean, a nurse who served in the main Gulf hospital, fears his daughter Annelise was a casualty.

She was born with an overlarge heart which began to fail when she was 11 weeks old. Her life was saved by an emergency transplant a year ago; last month she took her first steps. She will be on medication for the rest of her life.

MacLean, from Inverness, said he collapsed after being given 16 injections before going to the Gulf, three of which contained unnamed chemical agents.

Harry Hurst is an army band percussionist who served as a medic on the front lines in the Gulf. His son Harry was later born with three ears. "Before I left I was perfectly healthy," said Hurst, from Stockton-on-Tees, in Cleveland, "and now I've got the classic symptoms of Gulf war syndrome. I look at Harry and feel I was to blame."

Last week it was disclosed in the House of Lords that British troops in Bosnia are facing the threat of chemical nerve and biological agents stockpiled by the Serbs, and preventive measures, similar to those used in the Gulf, were being prepared.
The UK GulfWeb:

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