London, November 15: British protesters call on the US government to disclose data on where in Iraq its army had used weapons containing depleted uranium (DU).
The protest, organized by the UK Uranium Weapons Network (UUWN) outside the US Embassy in London, said that the US military had used at least 400 tons of munitions containing depleted uranium in Iraq during the 1991 and 2003 wars.
“They continue to refuse to release data on where the weapons were used, blocking research into their health impact and preventing decontamination and risk reduction programs,” UUWN said.
According to reports, a UN resolution calling on countries to release data about depleted uranium weapons has been killed by the US, France, Israel, and the UK.
Britain has voted against the resolution in spite of the fact that it has already released information on its own depleted uranium weapons used in Iraq in 2003.
Last month, more than 80 MPs supported an Early Day Motion at the British parliament voicing great concern that over 400,000 kg of depleted uranium weapons the US military had used in Iraq remained unaccounted for.
“Without knowing where the weapons have been used it is impossible to begin to mitigate the risks that the contamination poses to the civilian population,” the MPs warned.
The number of cancer patients and birth defects linked with depleted uranium weapons are on the rise across Iraqi cities and towns, according to media reports.
Medics have also found traces of depleted uranium munitions used by the Israeli army during its invasion of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Israel has also defied UN demands to map out the areas in Lebanon where its army had used cluster bombs.
——–Agencies