Church leaders have written to Tony Blair urging compensation for thousands of Gulf War veterans who have become seriously ill since the war in 1991, reports the BBC.
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Signatories of the letter include five Anglican bishops. The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev. Graham James, organised the letter to Tony Blair calling on him to recognise the suffering of victims.

The government refused the call last year by former law lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, to officially recognise “Gulf War syndrome”.

The church leaders warn that denying the existence of the syndrome only adds to the distress of the victims.

The letter by the churchmen states: “It seems to us that Lord Lloyd’s inquiry has demonstrated that the illnesses which have resulted from the Gulf War are not some figment of anyone’s imagination but have a terrifying reality – one that should be recognised by the Government so that adequate compensation can be given to the victims and families affected.”

They continued: “The failure to recognise their condition officially adds to their distress. We ask Her Majesty’s Government to take urgent action to bring this unhappy state of affairs to a satisfactory conclusion.”

|TOP|Labour peer Lord Morris of Manchester, parliamentary adviser to the Royal British Legion and long-time campaigner on behalf of the Gulf veterans, welcomed the church leaders’ plea.

“This new and important initiative merits an urgent and positive response,” said Lord Morris.

“Meanwhile it will hearten the over 6,000 British veterans of the Gulf War who are now in broken health and the widows of those afflicted who have since died,” he said.

The signatories to the letter were:

Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries
The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson
The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the Rt Rev Richard Lewis
The Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev William Ind
the Roman Catholic Bishop of East Anglia, the Rt Rev Michael Evans
Chair of the East Anglia Methodist District, the Rev Graham Thompson