by Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- The number of cancer cases in Iraq has soared since the 1990-1991 Gulf war because of radioactivity from munitions used by British and U.S. forces, health officials said Tuesday.

Speaking at the start of a Baghdad conference aimed at seeking ways to fight the increase, officials said depleted uranium munitions used by the U.S. and British forces were the cause of the increase.

According to Iraqi government statistics, the number of cancer cases registered in Iraq rose to 6,158 in 1997 from 4,341 in 1991.

A United Nations document issued in 1998 showed a 55 percent increase of cancer in Iraq between 1989 and 1994.

"There is no other reason to justify this increase apart from what had happened during the Gulf War, and depleted uranium has been found definitely related to this increase," Abul-Hadi al-Khalili, deputy head of the Iraqi Cancer Board, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.

Khalili said there were now tens of thousands of registered cancer patients. He believed the number could be higher because many Iraqis failed to report the disease to his board.

Iraqi authorities say the allied forces estimated they had used 300 tons of depleted uranium munitions against Iraq in the U.S.-led offensive to recapture Kuwait, but other researchers put the figure at 700 to 800 tons.

Depleted uranium is used as a component of armor-piercing munitions. U.S. veterans groups have complained for years that depleted uranium ammunition caused them health problems. The Pentagon has responded with studies discounting health hazards from the ammunition, which was fired primarily from tanks and aircraft.

Britain has said depleted uranium ammunition can produce small amounts of radioactive and toxic particles on impact, but it is unlikely that anyone outside the target area would be affected.

Iraq, whose health services have been devastated by nearly 10 years of U.N. economic sanctions, says it cannot afford expensive cancer drugs to treat the victims let alone the huge cost of de-contaminating affected areas.

Officials said the areas worst hit by cancer outbreaks were in the south, where most of the radioactive munitions were used.

"The increase in cancer cases is more in the south of the country than other parts, especially in leukemia, a blood cancer," Khalili said.

His biggest worry was how to treat his patients rather than their numbers.

"There is a lack of equipment to investigate the disease, lack of drugs and lack of surgical facilities," he said.

Doctors had to postpone cancer surgery because of acute shortage of anesthetic drugs, he added.

Radioactive isotopes, used for therapy and diagnosis of cancers, were not available. Permission to import any radioactive material had to come through the U.N. sanctions committee, which Khalili accused of delaying Iraqi orders.

Baghdad is allowed to sell oil to buy food and medicine for the Iraqi people. But it has repeatedly complained that medical supplies are not reaching the country in sufficient quantities.