§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
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Number of Claimants by Service (c) Total Number of Claimants (d) Serial (a School Term (b) RN Army RAF RN, Army and RAF 1 Autumn 2001 753 2,823 935 4,511 2 Spring 2002 761 2,837 1,532 5,130 3 Summer 2002 776 2,852 1,541 5,169 4 Autumn 2002 833 2,862 1,520 5,215 5 Spring 2003 842 2,709 1,519 5,070 6 Summer 2003 861 2,816 1,521 5,198 7 Autumn 2003 924 2,837 1,511 5,272 8 Spring 2004 927 2,826 1,510 5,263 9 Summer 2004 925 2,812 1,502 5,239 What research was undertaken between 1993 and 2003 into the effects for British troops of exposure to fall-out from the demolitions by United Slates forces of the Iraqi chemical arms hunkers at Khamisiyah in March 1991; and when they first knew that sarin and cyclosarin were involved. [HL4814]
§ Lord BachThe Ministry of Defence were first made aware of the presence of sarin and cyclosarin at Khamisiyah upon publication of a CIA paper entitledCIA Report on Intelligence Related to Gulf War Illness on 2 August 1996.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) subsequently commissioned modelling of the possible exposure levels in 1997. Following the publication of the DoD work, the MoD published a paper in December 1999 entitled Review of Events Concerning 32 Field Hospital and the Release of Nerve Agent Arising From US Demolition of Iraqi Munitions at the Khamisiyah Depot In March 1991, based on the DoD modelling of the Khamisiyah plume footprint and including the views of MoD scientists. This paper concluded that approximately 9,000 British servicemen could potentially have been exposed to sarin and cyclosarin, but at levels too low to have any biological detectable effect. Both the DoD and MoD assessments concentrated on the levels of exposure on British troops to fall-out from Khamisiyah.
The MoD is currently considering the 2002 modelling work by the DoD (and a subsequent review by the General Accountability Office) and we will publish a final assessment in the near future.