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March Staged in Athens to Protest Against NATO's Use of DU Shells
Thousands of members of the Greek Communist Party late Thursday staged a march from downtown Athens to the U.S. embassy in protest against NATO's use of depleted uranium (DU) ammunitions during the alliance's bombings in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Fears came after the reports that at least 13 peacekeepers from Italy, Belgium and Portugal have died of leukemia, or the Balkan syndrome. The media and public attributed this to NATO's use of the DU ammunitions.
The Greek Communist Party has criticized NATO for its use of DU ammunitions and called for the withdrawal of Greek peacekeepers from Kosovo.
In a related development, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis Thursday announced a series of measures to investigate the problems arising from the use of DU ammunitions.
While blaming NATO for not providing adequate information of DU ammunitions, Simitis said that his government believes that there should be a full investigation into the consequences of war operations and that all measures for protection should be taken.
Simitis said that NATO and its member states should make all data regarding the use of these weapons public and cooperate with other international organizations and scientific bodies in investigating the issue.
He also stressed that Greece considers it imperative that a committee within a NATO framework is created to collect data and evaluate evidence.
The measures announced after a Cabinet meeting focusing on the DU issue also include the intervention by the European Union in the investigation, the establishment of a scientific working team to evaluate the consequences of using the DU ammunitions in Yugoslavia at the next Balkan Summit in February and the creation of a government committee to monitor the handling of the investigation.
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