ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan 19 - 'Israel Used Ammo Containing Depleted Uranium In Gaza'.

Arab states accuse Israel of using ammunition containing depleted uranium in its 22-day war on Gaza as Tel Aviv said it would withdraw all its troops from the coastal strip by the time Barack Obama is inaugurated as president of the US. In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors accredited in Austria, Prince Mansour Al-Saud, the Saudi ambassador, expressed "our deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims". The letter requested the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Muhammad El-Baradei, to urgently "carry out a radiological and physical assessment in order to verify the presence of depleted uranium in the weaponry used by Israel ... in the Gaza Strip". Officials at the Israeli mission to the IAEA said they were in no position to comment without having seen the letter. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming confirmed receipt of the letter and said a response might be issued later. An IAEA article on the use of depleted uranium says: There is a risk of developing cancer from exposure to radiation emitted by ... depleted uranium. This risk is assumed to be proportional to the dose received". At least 1,310 Palestinians, over 400 of them children, were killed and 5,400 injured in the war. Israeli FM Tzipi Livni said the civilian deaths were a "product of circumstance". "We had to carry out this operation. I am at peace with the fact that we did it", Livni told Israel Radio.