Italians want to investigate the cause of death of their soldiers in BiH

Dnevni avaz – From Eufor Pio Information – 29 November 2005 In Sarajevo on Tuesday, the BiH Parliament’s Committee for investigating the consequences of contamination with depleted uranium met with members of the Italian Parliamentarian Committee investigating the cause of death of Italian soldiers in BiH. Italian senator Paolo Franco said that the primary goal of the Committee was to investigate the possible cause of the increased death rate among Italian soldiers who were on mission in BiH and Kosovo, adding that 40 death cases were registered among this population. The Italian Committee would like to exchange information with the BiH Committee and get relevant information, as the Italian Committee started work only in March this year, while the BiH Committee has already put forward its report to the BiH Parliament for adoption. “In conversation with our Italian colleagues, we will see if there is a need to change anything,” said Jelina Djurkovic, President of the Committee. The BiH Committee has already established that there is a danger from contamination of soil and water, and will propose that the relevant authorities take urgent measures to remove the remaining DU-tipped ammunition. According to Oslobodjenje, Djurkovic told Italian parliamentarians, that BiH was targeted with depleted uranium ammunition (3.5 tonnes) during the war, and that the most critical spots were Han-Pijesak, Hadzici and Kalinovik. Paolo Franco said that the pathohistological findings of the soldiers’ tissues did not indicate the presence of DU, but that it was his duty to inform the Italian Senate of the cause of death of the deceased soldiers. The Italian delegation concluded that it would try together with the BiH Committee to eliminate any doubts about the cause of death of these soldiers. It was noted that without a detailed analysis it was not possible to talk about radiation as the possible cause of the soldiers’ death.