There is new scientific evidence that may help decide why so many GulfWar veterans are sick.

Many Canadians who served as soldiers in the Gulf war say that they havebeen suffering from mysterious sickness since they served in the war. The various illnesses are known as the Gulf War Syndrome.

CBC Radio has obtained results of tests done on the body of a Gulfveteran who died last year.

The Persian Gulf War - also called the Gulf War (1990-91) - was aninternational conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwaiton August 2, 1990. Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, ordered the invasionand occupation of the neighbouring country of Kuwait . Iraq's invasionprompted the United States and its western European NATO allies, including Canada, to rush troops to Saudi Arabia. By the time that U.S. President George Bush declared a cease-fire for February 28, much ofIraq had been destroyed.

Terry Riordon of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, asked his wife to give his bodyto be tested in the hopes of discovering why he was so sick.

Riordon started getting sick shortly after coming home from the Gulf.

His military medical file lists everything from memory loss to breathingproblems. His wife Sue says near the end, things got worse.

His file also acknowledges what may be the strangest problem of all: hiseyes changed colour in the nine years between his time in the Gulf andhis death.

Doctors at the Department of National Defence couldn't decide on adiagnosis. They thought Riordon had post-traumatic stress (stress thatcomes after a disturbing experience, like a war), or a seizure disorder,or was a hypochondriac (someone who thinks he is ill but is not).

When he died last April, his wife allowed scientists to examine tissuesfrom his organs and his bones. The tests were done at a Canadian lab.Then They were analyzed by Dr. Asaph Durokavic in Washington.

"We found in the bone tissue, particularly cancerous bone, that itcontained depleted uranium," says Durokavic.

Depleted uranium was used to coat tanks and missiles to harden them.

It's radioactive.

Durokavic believes when missiles exploded, radioactive dust was breathedin by veterans. He says those radioactive particles never left the body.Durokavic says he's also finding depleted uranium in the urine of livingveterans.

But the Canadian military doesn't believe depleted uranium is a factorin Gulf War illnesses. That's why it's not making the testing availableto veterans.

In the United States, depleted uranium tests are done on any Gulfveteran who asks.

1. What is known as the Gulf War Syndrome?