PARIS NATO and the European Union continued examining the after effects of depleted uranium (DU) munitions used in the Balkans, amid mounting alarm Sunday over reports of cancer among personnel who served there.

NATO's top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, will meet on Tuesday to discuss the crisis over the controversial ammunition, which is being blamed for causing cancer in veterans.

On the same day the EU Political and Security Committee will also discuss the "Balkan Syndrome," as the appearance of unusual health problems in former peacekeepers is being called.

Sweden, the current holder of the European Union presidency, said Sunday that it needed more information on the syndrome and on DU munitions "before taking concrete measures," a Swedish defense spokesman said.

"We are taking the concerns expressed here and there very seriously, but first we have to collect more facts," Lieutenant-Colonel Anders Eisen told the TT news agency.

Seven Italian soldiers, five Belgians, two Dutch, two Spaniards, a Portuguese and a Czech have died from cancer since returning from tours of duty in Bosnia or Kosovo where the U.S. fired DU shells.

Four French soldiers and four Belgians have also contracted leukemia.

Greece had asked Sweden to take the lead in Europe to clarify dangers posed by DU ammunition, AFP reported on Monday.

Greece's Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos asked Bjorn von Sydow, his Swedish counterpart, to broach the issue at the next EU defense ministers' session.

EU Commission President Romano Prodi demanded the abolition of the tank-busting weapons last week if there was a risk of radioactive contamination.

The EU was considering launching its own investigation into the use of the controversial hardware, a spokesman said.

NATO Secretary General George Robertson ordered a detailed investigation of potentially contaminated Bosnian sites following calls from Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal for further information on DU projectiles and their potential health hazard.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the use of force in the former Yugoslavia was "absolutely unacceptable" with or without depleted uranium, according to NTV television.

"We still have too little information on the issue to draw conclusions, but even the fact that force was used is bad," the Russian leader told journalists.

Switzerland said Sunday it would subject 900 military personnel who served in the Balkans to health tests to ensure they have not been contaminated, an army spokesman said.

In Kosovo itself, health experts were examining effects of uranium dust on public health after the head of a UN scientific team repeated warnings that civilians and mine-clearers could be at risk.

Uranium is used in DU munitions to make bullets or missiles denser so that they can pierce armor. The material gives off relatively low levels of radiation, but can be dangerous if ingested, inhaled in dust or if it enters the body through cuts or wounds.

Washington has failed to allay growing European concern over the use of DU munitions. The Pentagon has said no adverse effects had been found in U.S. personnel who handled the ammunition and rejected calls for a moratorium on the use of DU shells, still being used by U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo.