US Moves Gulf War Hearing to London

The US Congress is to hold an unprecedented hearing in Westminster next week to take evidence from British sufferers of Gulf war syndrome, as President Bush prepares for the possibility of renewing the war against Iraq.

The congressional subcommittee on national security, veterans' affairs and international relations is to hold an all-day hearing in parliament's new building, Portcullis House, as part of a renewed investigation into undiagnosed illnesses which have affected 5,000 of 52,000 British troops sent to the Gulf in 1990.

It is said to be the first time a congressional committee has held a hearing in parliament.

The committee, chaired by the Republican, Christopher Shays, has spoken out about the failure of the US defence department to listen to war veterans, provide them with proper protection from toxic substances, keep proper medical records, or provide adequate compensation.

A report by the committee refused to accept claims by the military that the outbreak of diseases was due to stress and psychological problems.

The hearing has been welcomed by the Royal British Legion, which helped to organise the trip, as a new way to put pressure on the Ministry of Defence, particularly as British troops might again be asked to join the Americans in the Gulf.

Fourteen witnesses will give evidence in Westminster, including Samantha Thompson, widow of the Gulf veteran Nigel Thompson, who died of motor neurone disease in January, and John Nichol, the navigator shot down during the Gulf war.

Both have demanded - along with the Royal British Legion and the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association - a public inquiry into Gulf war syndrome. The MoD has commissioned research which will be reported on next year.

The US, unlike Britain, has already recognised motor neurone disease among former troops as a war-related illness.

The committee has also asked Lord McColl of Dulwich, Gulf war consultant to John Major, prime minister at the time of the conflict, and Patrick Allen, the lawyer leading the campaign for for compensation payments for veterans, to give evidence.

There will be two sessions to discuss medical findings about the use of multiple vaccines, exposure to depleted uranium and organophosphates in pesticides, and epidemiological studies on Gulf war illnesses.

The congressional hearing is to be followed by an address to 150 peers and MPs by the former presidential candidate Ross Perot, who has financed US Gulf veterans' medical treatment and compensation and is critical of current US research into Gulf war syndrome.

He is expected to criticise the choice of scientists by the US defence department to investigate the problem.

The hearing has been organised by Lord Morris of Manchester and Bruce George, Labour chairman of the Commons defence committee, who have both attended congressional hearings in Washington.

Lord Morris said: "British and US troops fought side by side to liberate Kuwait and now British parliamentarians and American congressmen are working together to help those who have become ill after fighting... This committee is a terrier for the truth and its combative nature might be a a surprise to Westminster."