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Depleted Uranium Possible Cause for Dead Fish in Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The cause of the death of nearly a thousand tons of fish found since mid-August is a riddle which Kuwaiti and international environmental experts are currently working diligently to solve, news agencies reported Wednesday.
According to the BBC's online service, an official investigation in Kuwait has been unable to determine the reasons behind the dead fish washing up on its shores.
Environment officials have suggested that a heat wave, which has sent temperatures soaring to more than 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, might be to blame.
Water temperatures in the Gulf have reportedly risen as high as 36 degrees Celsius (roughly 95 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Kuwaiti government responded to the sudden influx of dead fish by imposing a ban on fishing in Kuwaiti waters and setting up a committee to examine the issue.
But, the committee has admitted that they have been unable to determine the cause of the phenomenon.
"A thousand tons of dead fish have been found [since mid-August]," the committee headed by health minister Mohamed Ahmed Al-Jarallah said in a statement carried by the official Kuna news agency, said BBC.
On Monday, Al Qabas newspaper quoted an environmental expert as citing depleted Uranium (DU) as one of the possible causes for the marine tragedy.
Other possibilities include toxic waste or radioactive sediment.
During the Gulf War in 1991, NATO forces used DU in weapons used against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm, said a report published by UAE daily,
Al Bayan.
This was also the case during air strike operations, which continued for 38 days between January 17th and February 23rd of that year. The amount of DU used exceeded 900 tons.
According to a report issued in April 1995 by the Environmental Policy Institute, the DU resulted in the formation of nearly three tons of dust containing DU particles, said the paper.
According to the report, the dust spread throughout southern Iraq and possibly into the Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian regions that have common borders with Iraq, posing a threat to a great portion of the Gulf region.
An IslamOnline correspondent in Kuwait said that environmental experts in the country said, on the condition of anonymity, that DU is the cause of the catastrophe and that the Kuwaiti government is keeping it under wraps while seeking the help of U.S and British environmental specialists.
Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency, IRNA, reported Wednesday that environmentalists have rejected speculation that the great numbers of dead fish found on Kuwaiti shores could have been washed ashore by marine pollution affecting the Iranian side.
Upon the arrival of the Iranian research ship "Qods" in Kuwaiti waters, Iranian Charge d'Affaires to Kuwait, Reza Ameri, said that no evidence of fish dying in Iranian waters has been found, reported IRNA.
He told reporters that, as earlier announced, the dead fish were all found only on Kuwaiti shores, adding that environmentalists are now looking into a local cause that to explain the phenomenon.
In Iraq Tuesday, a team of World Health Organization (WHO) experts began work investigating whether Iraqis are suffering from increased levels of cancer and birth defects as a result of DU used in the Gulf War, and U.N. sanctions.
The six-member team arrived in Baghdad Monday night to meet Health Ministry officials and view documents supporting Iraq's claims.
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