LONDON, Feb. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior British lawyer has demandeda public review of the issues surrounding Gulf War syndrome, the BBC reported Saturday.

    In a letter to Lord Morris of Manchester, who has campaigned for Gulf War veterans, lawyer Stephen Irwin said: "There is no doubt that many of them are ill. It is accepted by experts worldwide that the veterans suffer ill health which is associated with their active service in the Gulf."

    Gulf War syndrome is a condition popularized after the war against Iraq in 1991. Many of the 5,500 British troops who served in the Gulf, together with US soldiers, have experienced a range of symptoms including muscle weakness, neurological symptoms, headaches, depression, fatigue, short-term memory loss and difficulty in concentrating, joint and muscle pain, sleep disturbances, skin rashes and shortness of breath.

    There were also reports in the US of the same syndrome among Gulf War veterans.

    "Science has not explained the mechanism or mechanisms of theirillness, much less that their suffering has resulted from fault," Irwin said in the letter. "Nevertheless, we firmly believe that for very many veterans, their suffering is genuine and has a significant impact on their daily lives and the lives of their families."

    "We would ask government to consider instituting a full public review of the position of the veterans, as has been called for by the Royal British Legion, and to instigate a process of conciliation with the veteran groups," Irwin said.

    "This should be designed to mark the effects of war service on the veterans who are suffering and to make good, by ex-gratia payments, the deficiencies of the War Pension Scheme," Irwin added.

    Lord Morris was expected to deliver Irwin's letter to Downing Street on Saturday.

    Last week, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that an eight-year, multi-million pound legal battle by more than 2,000 British veterans for compensation for Gulf War syndrome has collapsed due to insufficient scientific evidence either to prove the case or toshow negligence on behalf of Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD).

    To succeed in their claim against the MoD, the veterans would have to produce scientific evidence to prove their illness was caused by service in the 1991 Gulf War and that the MoD had been negligent, the paper said.

    Gulf War syndrome has been attributed to stress, smoke from burning oil wells, injections, depleted uranium ammunition and other causes, although many believe the condition could be psychosomatic.

    The US and Britain have refused to accept a direct link betweenthe war and the syndrome, even though they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars researching possible causes. Enditem