MoD rejects research on Gulf War syndrome

The Ministry of Defence insisted yesterday that Gulf War syndrome does not exist, after a US report suggested it does.

Defence officials said there were medical lessons to learn from the 1990-91 Gulf war, but refused to accept new research that found soldiers were suffering from a specific syndrome.

On Wednesday, details from a US report were leaked to New Scientist magazine, which suggested Gulf War illnesses could be linked to sarin, a nerve agent produced by Iraq.

Yesterday, the MoD published its own report, identifying health lessons arising from the conflict. But an MoD official said: "I understand the [US] report only reviews existing research and our view is that research to date shows there is insufficient evidence to support Gulf War syndrome."