Some 140 Greek peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo have asked to be transferred back to Greece since the scare over the use of depleted uranium ammunition broke, a defence ministry spokesman said on Saturday.
Andreas Sourbis said that the KFOR troops -- part of a 1,500-strong Greek contingent based in Urosevac had asked to be sent home during a visit to the base by Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Friday.
The minister said that their requests would be dealt with immediately, Sourbis said.
The Greek press has reported that Tsohatzopoulos insisted that "no Greek soldier should feel forced to serve" with the international contingent of KFOR troops in the region.
The defence ministry also said that nearly 100 soldiers who had asked to go to Kosovo to relieve other troops had withdrawn their request over health fears.
On Friday Prime Minister Costas Simitis told a special parliamentary session that "NATO has still not answered the Greek government's questions" over so-called Balkan war syndrome.
Simitis called on NATO to cooperate with international bodies on the issue and said Greek was placing a temporary ban on the use of the ammunition which many blame for a spate of cancers reported by former troops who served in the Balkan region.
Veteran groups and soldiers' families have blamed incidences of cancer on the use by US forces of the armour-piercing rounds tipped with depleted uranium which give off a cloud of radioactive dust on impact.
One junior Greek officer who served in Bosnia between 1997 and 1998 is suffering from leukemia, although no link between the disease and the rounds has been established.
Tests for above-average radioactivity recently carried out around the Greek camp in Kosovo have so far proved negative, the government said -- ATHENS (AFP)
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